Abandoned and Alone
by PrincetonBlues
Summary: Takes place shortly after Wilson's death. House is drowning his sorrows and feeling completely alone. Until he gets a call for help. Be not afraid, Huddy fans.
1. Chapter 1

House was sprawled on the couch, bottle of scotch in hand. Wilson had been gone almost a month. He knew the day was coming, for 6 months, he knew, but still he felt blindsided. He let his arm fall off the couch, dangling dangerously close to the pill bottle on the table. Sighing heavily he sat up and reached for it, looking at it as if for the the first time.

"James Wilson." he said aloud "take as necessary for pain". But what about HIS pain? It would have been so easy to pop the cap and down what was left in the bottle. Shaking his head, he tossed it back on the table and began to pace. The one thing that Wilson had asked of him, was to promise that he wouldn't use his death as an excuse or justification to go back on the pills.

He hadn't really intended to quit taking Vicodin. But when it got close to the end, Wilson needed more meds than he could safely get at a pharmacy without raising suspicion. The significant stash he had managed to accumulated had helped to keep the pain manageable, and House found that he didn't even miss it that much. Until now.

He looked out the apartment window, towards the street below. Why in the world had Wilson decided that he wanted to die here, of all places, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Any normal person would want to spend their last months on a tropical beach, or at the very least, someplace warm. He shook his head. Wilson was anything but normal.

The cell phone had been ringing off and on for an hour. Taking another swig of the bottle, he finally stood up, grabbed it from the table and flipped it open.

"In case you haven't heard, Dr. Foreman, we are no longer in need of your prescription writing services" he said gruffly

"House..." Foreman asked with uncertainty in his voice. "How are you doing?"

"I would think that someone with your background would understand the meaning of 'going underground' What part of that don't you get?"

House was irritated by the call, but even more so by the nagging feeling that he had. Something told him, Foreman wasn't calling to check on his well being. Something else was going on.

"There's a problem..."

"Dr. House may have had a problem." he said matter of factly, taking a swig of the scotch, and stretching out on the couch. "Me, however, I'm without a care in the world."

"It's Cuddy."

" I told you when you came and got me out of prison, I don't care. That hasn't changed. Now don't call me at this number again."

"House, wait!" the urgency in his voice was clear "It's about Rachel"

There was silence for a good ten seconds, and Foreman could tell that he had not hung up the phone, so he continued.

"Cuddy was on her way here for a medical conference, and there was an accident."

House stood up and started pacing, running a hand through his hair. He never wanted to hear Cuddy's name again, let alone speak it. It had taken him years to push all of his memories into that separate compartment in the back of his mind. He had no intentions of opening that up again. Still, he had to ask..

"Is Rachel all right?" he finally asked

"Yes and no. House, Cuddy never made it to New Jersey. There was pile up on the interstate. She's pretty banged up with some brain swelling. She's in a hospital near Philadelphia, in a medically induced coma. Her sister Julia was killed."

"Rachel?" he asked again, more urgently this time.

"She's fine, she wasn't in the car. But Cuddy had Julia as her guardian. Wilson was next. The hospital where Cuddy is called here looking for him."

He let out an audible sigh of relief. He felt next to nothing upon hearing of the death of Cuddys, sister, but the thought of something happening to Rachel...or Cuddy...

"I'm dead, Foreman. Wilson is dead. What do you want me to do about all this?" he was feigning indifference, and probably not very convincingly

"House, I know that you have a fake ID in Wilson's name. He told me that's how you were picking up his prescriptions for him when he couldn't go out anymore."

"He always did have a big mouth. I still don't see the point."

"For all anyone knows, you _are _Dr. James Wilson."

House's eyes widened for just a second, as he realized what Foreman was getting at.

"Cuddy's babysitter is ready to call childrens' services for Rachel. I told her Wilson was out of town, and convinced her to give us until tomorrow. There's no one else to take her. "

"Seems to me Cuddy had a mother. It's her problem now."

"We cant locate her. Apparently she's on some world cruise. Nobody knows anything."

"How convenient. " he muttered.

House walked over to the desk drawer and pulled out the stack of hundred dollar bills that Wilson had left for him. Enough for him to move out of the dingy apartment they had rented in the last month and at least start a new life. It was enough money to get him a place to stay, and take care of Rachel until...He shook his head angrily at himself. This was crazy. He might as well march right in to the police station and turn himself in. He slammed the drawer shut.

"A few days in foster care won't kill her. Shes a strong kid."

"House..it's going to be more than a few days. If...when Cuddy comes out of this, she's probably going to have a long recovery. And we don't even know if there's brain damage..."

"Look," House said, talking over Foreman so that he couldn't finish that thought "Even if I were willing to do this, sooner or later Cuddy's mother is going to come home. She despises me. She would like nothing more than to toss me in the slammer. This time they will throw away the key"

Foreman sighed "I don't think so. I left word with Cuddy's doctors to have her call Wilson, but I left my cell number. I'll have time to give you a heads up."

"So, you've got this all figured out."

He was angry at himself for even considering it. There were so many way that this could go wrong. Still, it would be something to occupy his mind, a challenge. Something that had been lacking in his life since Wilson died.

Foreman was silent, waiting for a response. He knew better than to push, but it was a good sign that House was even on the other end of the phone.

"All right." he said, grabbing a tablet and pen, "Give me the address."

House scribbled down the house number and street, but when he got to the city, his hand froze.

"Say that again?"

"Penn Hills. It's a suburb of Pittsburgh..."

House couldn't help but smirk.

"Wilson, even when you're dead, you're a manipulative bitch."

"What are you..."

"I'll be there tomorrow. When I'm sober."

With that, the phone went silent. Foreman saw that the call was disconnected and tossed the phone on his desk. He threw himself down in his chair and glanced sideways towards the doorway.

"Well it's done. He's going to pick up Rachel tomorrow. ….I feel like I'm setting him up. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Arlene Cuddy stood with her arms crossed, a pleased smile on her face. She turned towards the doorway.

"Well my daughter may not think so. But in the end, I think she will see that I know what's best."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Thanks for all of the great reviews guys. I had this idea in my head for months, but never put it down on paper. I'm new to all of this, so please bear with me. The usual disclaimers. I don't own House MD or the characters. **

House threw himself down on the couch, his mind racing. He leaned forward, rubbing his leg, almost out of habit. None of this made sense, and every part of his brain was screaming out signals. Something was amiss. Foreman didnt care about Rachel, or even about Cuddy, all that much. Was this some sort of pathetic attempt to give him something to live for? Was it some sort of trap?

He shook his head. While Foreman wouldn't exactly classify as a friend, at least not in Wilson's category, House still felt that he could trust him. Whatever this was, he really didn't care. For the first time in a month, he had a purpose, a reason to get up the next morning. He grabbed the scotch and the bottle of pills and walked into the bathroom.

There was no hesitation in dumping the scotch down the drain. He knew that he needed a clear head in the morning, if he was going to pull this off. Popping the lid off of the Vicodin, he poured them into his hand, rolling them around in his fingers. Part of him wanted to keep them stashed, just in case. After all, what if the pain got really bad? He might not be able to get any more, ever. And what would it hurt to just have them on hand? No. He couldn't start with the justification, he knew where that would lead. Sighing heavily, he opened his hand and released the pills into the toilet, and watched them spiral down.

After throwing some clothes into a suitcase, House set his alarm and sprawled out on the bed, hoping for some sleep, but his mind was going elsewhere. How old would Rachel be right now? 5 years old? 6? She was so young when he and Cuddy had split, would she even remember him? As hard as he tried, House couldn't stop his thoughts from going to Cuddy. How badly was she really hurt? And, if she did recover, what would her reaction be to not only his being alive, but to what he was about to do with Rachel?

The next morning, after managing only an hour or two of sleep, he got up, showered, and called a cab. With all the essentials gathered, he stood in the doorway, taking one last look around. Surprisingly, he found it hard to leave. This was where Wilson spent the last six weeks of his life. In the end, Wilson was ready for it to be over, and was hanging on only because he didn't want to leave his best friend alone to "wallow" as he put it. Remembering his last night was still painful. He was just a shell of himself, his face gaunt and pale, covered in sweat.

"_House," Wilson said weakly. "You need to call Cuddy, tell her that you're alive. "_

"_You would think all of your failed marriages would have killed the hopeless romantic in you. That ship has sailed, Jimmy boy. All that would get me is another date with the warden. " _

"_I'm sure she's mellowed a little towards you over the years. Promise me that you'll at least think about it."_

"_Ok. I promise. Does that make you feel better?"_

"_For some reason, it does." Wilson said. "It's just...you gave up everything to spend these months with me. I don't want you to be alone. You'll self destruct if you're alone."_

"_Don't. Don't start with the guilt. I wouldn't have had to do it this way if I hadn't been such a jerk. Besides, I will find a way out of this. I always do. "_

"_I wonder..."_

"_Is this really how you want our last conversation to go? Don't you have any declarations of affection, confessions to some evil deed, maybe a deep, dark secret you've been harboring?"_

_Wilson shook his head and tried to laugh, but the pain was almost unbearable now. There was no point in prolonging this any longer. Reaching into the medical bag, House pulled out bag of morphine. Alone, it wouldn't be lethal, but combined with the dose that he had already been given, it should be enough to end the pain once and for all. _

"_It's time to do this, Wilson."House said, hanging the morphine drip from the IV stand. "You ready?"_

_Wilson nodded. "See you on the other side, House."_

"_Dont get me started..." House said, opening the drip on the IV. _

"_You're going to feel really stupid when you find out I was right all along" he smiled_

_Once the medicine got into his system, the pain was finally dulled enough that he was able to let go. His eyes closed and his breaths became more and more shallow, until finally, they stopped. House methodically checked his pulse, swallowing hard when it became clear that his best friend was really gone..._

The incessant beeping of the taxi out front brought him out of his thoughts, and back to the present. "Goodbye Wilson." he said, sliding his hand over the light switch, and closing the door behind him.

Traffic was heavy, and it seemed to take forever to get to the address that Foreman had given. When the taxi pulled up to the curb, House scanned the area. It was a very small, brick, ranch home, nothing fancy. Nothing at all like the place that he had destroyed not all that long ago. He winced at the memory. Grabbing the suitcase, he shoved some money into the cabbies hand and walked up to the door.

The woman that answered the door was not what House had expected. She looked to be in her mid fifties, with obviously dyed blonde hair and a square jawline. He cringed at how much she reminded him of a younger version of Arlene. Probably why Cuddy chose her in first place, he thought. She was nothing if not predictable. He looked around nervously, wondering now if he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Can I help you?" she asked

"I'm here for the rugrat." House declared, then corrected. "I'm here for Rachel. I'm James Wilson."

"Oh, of course. The hospital said you were coming."

She moved aside and motioned him inside. He set down the suitcase and leaned on his cane while taking in his surroundings. It was obvious that Cuddy had taken a serious pay cut when she relocated. But despite the simplicity, it still seemed very warm and comfortable.

"I hope you understand, but I need to see some identification."

"Oh, last night you were ready to call social services to get rid of the kid, and now you're suddenly concerned for her welfare?" House snapped, as he fished in his wallet for the fake ID.

"Look I'm sorry about what happened to Dr. Cuddy, but..."

"Save it." he said, flashing the ID quickly, and replacing it. "Where's Rachel?"

It still sounded odd, calling her by her name. Rugrat, kid, munchkin...they all came much more naturally. The gruffness in his voice was giving the babysitter some doubts.

"You know, maybe I should stay a little longer..."

And that's when he noticed her. Rachel was standing on the step, staring at him as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle. Surprisingly, she had not changed much at all. Her eyes followed him up and down, finally settling on his cane. The corners of her mouth started to turn upward just slightly, and a look of recognition crossed her face. She practically ran down the stairs, stopping short just in front of House, who was uncharacteristically tongue tied.

"Rachel," the babysitter said. "Do you know who this is?"

Rachel nodded, and threw her arms around House's legs, almost causing him to lose his balance.

"Knew you'd come back." She said, hugging him as if holding on for dear life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's been so long. I had the whole chapter typed out, then my computer crashed and wouldn't recover the document. Not as happy with the second draft but here goes.**

House took a deep breath as he looked down at the little girl clinging so tightly to his legs. It had been so long since he had any human contact of any kind, he was surprised at how good it felt. He couldn't believe that she recognized him. She had been so young at the time of...the incident..and it was a pretty fair bet that there weren't any photos around to keep his memory alive. But something sure had.

"Hey, kid."

He moved her towards the couch, where they sat down. Propping up his cane, he put his feet up on the coffee table, stretching out his leg.

"Hey! You're not allowed to put your feet on the coffee table!" she said,

"Who says?"

"Mommy!"

"Well Mommy's not here right now, is she?"

He said it in a half joking manner, without thinking, and instantly realized his mistake. Any other time he could be caustic and rude. That's just how he was. But now now, with Rachel.

"Sorry." he said, removing his feet.

"I told her that her mother was sick. I wasn't really sure what I should say."

"You still here?" House asked, cocking his head in her direction, but not making eye contact. "You can go. I got this."

"Oh. Of course." she said, shifting uncomfortably "It's just...well, I was wondering about payment."

He let out a loud, disgusted sigh, and reached in his pocket, pulling out a money clip. He peeled off a couple of hundred dollar bills, and thrust his hand out behind him, still not looking at her.

"This cover your precious time?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound insensitive, it's just that..."

"Bye!" he cut her off.

He could hear the noises of her gathering belongings. Finally there were footsteps and then the click of the door.

"She gone?" he asked, looking sideways at Rachel.

"Yup!"

"Good. Now tell me something, kid. Why aren't you in school?"

"Because Mommy is sick."

"Your Mommy is not "sick". That's just some crap the adults fed you because they think you can't handle the truth. She was in a car accident, and was hurt very bad. "

Rachel looked at him questioningly for a moment, before speaking.

"You gonna fix her?"

She was breaking his heart. There was no mystery as to what was wrong with Cuddy, no puzzle to figure out. It was out of his hands and that was weighing heavily on him.

"I'll try. " was all he could manage in response.

Rachel inched her way closer to him, as if testing the waters. House put an arm around her and she snuggled into him.

"I was sad when you left. Mommy said you were never coming back. "

"I had to go away for awhile. I did some bad things and I had to be punished. "

She seemed to accept that answer, and didn't ask anymore questions. He was surprised at how comfortable and accepting she was. It certainly wasn't going to be that easy with Cuddy. When, not if, she awoke from this coma, the first thing she would do is have him hauled back to jail. He had always planned on doing his time, though he was looking at a long sentence now. Falsifying records was a felony. But in the end, it was worth it to spend the last six months with Wilson.

And as for Wilson...House wondered if he had secretly made contact with Cuddy before his death. Why else would he choose Pittsburgh, PA as the final leg of their journey. That, coupled with his deathbed plea that he contact Cuddy made him think that it had to be more than cooincidence. Maybe Wilson was trying his best to set up one of those fairy tale ending that he was so fond of.

Rachel was looking up at House, as if waiting for him to say something.

"Why don't you go pick out some clothes," he said. "We're going for a little ride."

Rachel scurried off to her room, and House flipped open his cell phone and dialed Foreman's number. He was almost ready to hang up when he finally answered.

"House?"

"I assume you're alone, since we're not using our secret code names."

"Yeah...sorry. Habit. Is something wrong?"

"You mean something _else_?" he asked sarcastically. "Text me the address and number of that hospital where Cuddy is. Rachel and I are going on a road trip."

"House you can't go near that hospital. It's too close to home. And please tell me you aren't really at Cuddy's house, with Rachel. "

"Well, wasn't that the whole point of your little phone call last night?"

Foreman had tossed and turned all night. Arlene had made a convincing argument when she was in his office. Give House a purpose, a reason to live. A chance to redeem himself. But now that he had time to think about it, he was really worried that it was a trap. It made no since that Cuddy's mother wanted him anywhere near her daughter, let alone her granddaughter. She hated the man, even more than Cuddy did.

"Look, I've been thinking. Maybe you better just forget it and let Childrens Services take her. This is all just too much of a risk, for both of us."

"Now _there's_ the Foreman I know and love!" he said sarcastically, "No turning back now. Just get me the information."

He snapped the phone shut, and started pacing the floor. Foreman's actions had him doubting himself now. What had changed so drastically from that late night phone call? And how was he going to get to Philadelphia anyway? The fake ID he had was sufficient for some things, but he had no insurance, and a rental car was out of the question. He walked over to the window, moved the curtain and peered out. A sly smile crossed his face.

He walked into Rachel's room. Just about every piece of clothing she had was scattered on the bed. He reached down and helped her pick out a couple of outfits, shoving them into a back pack.

"All ready." she smiled.

"Rachel, whose car is that in the driveway?" he asked, feeling he knew the answer.

"Aunt Julia's. She rode in Mommy's car when they left."

"I don't suppose you know where the keys are?"

Rachel disappeared into the kitchen, and when she reappeared she was wearing a big grin, holding out the keys.

They stopped for lunch about half way through the seven hour drive. As they got within an hour of the hospital, he let his mind wander. It wasn't like him not to have a plan. What made him think they would let him just waltz right in and get information, let alone be in her room? He wasn't a relative, and neither was his current alter ego, James Wilson. And Foreman was right. It wasn't as if he was walking in to the local Walmart. He was going to a hospital, in close enough proximity to Princeton Plainsboro that chance were, someone would recognize him. He really hoped that Rachel would remember that they were "playing a game", pretending that he was Wilson. The cane would be a dead give away, especially if she slipped up and called him "House"

He parked in the ramp, cursing the fact that he could no longer steal handicapped parking. The stress, combined with the drive was really aggravating his leg pain, and as a result, his limp was greatly exaggerated. He took Rachel by the hand, and walked into the hospital, following the signs to the closest Nurse's station. He waited as the young brunette behind the desk finished up with her phone call.

"Excuse me, can any of you tell me what room Lisa Cuddy is in?"

The nurse punched some buttons on her computer, and then glanced up from behind the screen.

"Are you family?"

"Well, I'm not, but "

"Then I'm afraid I can't give out any information."

"You didn't let me finish. I'm not, but this is her daughter, Rachel. At the moment, I'm her guardian, and also a doctor." he said, flashing the ID.

"Oh, are you Doctor Wilson? We heard that you might be stopping by."

"You did?"

"Dr. Cuddy is in intensive care. I'm afraid the little girl won't be allowed to go in. It's probably best that she doesn't see her right now anyway."

"I can't see Mommy?" Rachel asked, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Well kid, Mommy is sleeping, and she really needs her rest. But I will go in and check on her and tell her you're here, okay?"

Rachel nodded, even though a tear escaped her eyes. House had wondered when it was all going to start getting to her. All that she knew was her mother had gone away and she was scared.

"Her room number is 342. 3rd floor intensive care." the nurse said, looking at Rachel with a sad smile. "Would you like to leave the little girl here with me?"

"Uh, I really don't feel right about that..." House said, feeling Rachel's grip tighten. "She's been through a lot."

"You know, it's almost my break time." the nurse said, glancing at her watch, "How about I go up with you. We can wait out in the hall, and she won't be far away."

House nodded, and waited for the nurse to lead the way to the elevators. When the doors opened at the third floor, he froze.

"Dr. Wilson? Something wrong?"

He shook his head, finally willing his legs to move, and following her into the hallway. He watched as she went up to the desk, apparently clearing his visit. She came back and took Rachel by the hand.

"4th door on the right, Dr. Wilson. We will wait right here."

"Hey," he said to Rachel. "I'll be right back, I promise."

Rachel nodded, and House limped down the hallway, hesitating for a moment before disappearing into the room.


	4. Chapter 4

House walked slowly and deliberately into the hospital room. Instantly he recognized the beeping of the monitors, and the haunting sounds of a ventilator. The IV stands and equipment surrounded her, for the moment blocking his view. He moved towards the foot of the bed, and finally caught his first full glimpse of her. A groan escaped him that was a combination of grief and helplessness. This wasn't happening. _It wasn't. _He had spent the last two plus years putting her out of his mind. He was never going to see her again, in part to punish himself, and partly because he just wanted to forget her. Wanted to forget the pain. One thing was suddenly very clear. If he didn't know it before, he knew it now, there was no forgetting Lisa Cuddy.

He moved closer to the bed, reaching his hand out, stopping just short of contact. Her head was bandaged where they had shaved her for surgery, and there was a gash on forehead, along with scrapes and bruises on her slightly swollen face. His eyes followed the tube from the ventilator to the machine next to the bed, and watched as it took her breaths for her. There was a burning in his chest as the he allowed himself to realize just how serious this was.

He sunk down in to the chair next to the bed, leaning towards her, and covered her hand with his.

"Cuddy." he whispered so softly that he wasn't sure he had even said it.

There was no response. He had known there wouldn't be, but part of him had hoped that she would miraculously open her eyes. "How is that for irony?", he thought. Greg House hoping for a miracle.

"I don't even know where to start." his voice was unsteady "Never thought I would have to face you again, let alone talk to you."

Looking around, he noticed a chart at the foot of the bed. Glancing at it briefly, he tossed it aside in frustration when it didn't provide any clues.

"Looks like this is all up to you now." he continued, taking hold of her hand again "Rachel is here. She's out in the hall, but they wouldn't let her in. Good thing, too, since you look like hell."

He looked down at the floor, nervously tapping his cane, as if it would help him find the words.

"I know how pissed you would be if you knew that Rachel was with me. It's sure as hell not what you would want, but I won't hurt her. You can trust me this time... She needs you, Cuddy. _I need you_. If you get through this, I'll turn myself in. I don't care how long they lock me up, and I'll never contact you or Rachel again, if that's what you want, as long as you come out of this. "

He heard footsteps and looked up to see a nurse coming in the room. Judging by the sympathetic smile she gave him, it was certain that she hadn't heard the context of what he was saying.

"I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll only be a minute."

"Interrupt what?" he said, regaining his composure.

"I thought I heard you talking to her. We encourage that. Nobody really knows whether or not a patient in a coma can hear what goes on in their surroundings, so we try to..."

House wasn't sure who he was more angry with, the nurse or himself. It was almost embarassing that someone had overheard. For years he had silently, and not so silently, mocked the grieving family members and boyfriends who took comfort in such conversations.

"She's had surgery to repair a brain bleed." He gestured with his cane towards the IV bag in her hand. "Those medications you keep pumping into her veins have shut down almost all brain activity in an attempt to reduce swelling, an allow her brain to heal itself. She cant see, she can't hear she can't even breathe on her own. Talking to a coma patient might make the family feel better, but it doesn't do a thing to help recovery. Try few more medical journals and a few less Harlequin novels."

He stood up quickly, steadied himself, and practically pushed past the nurse, going out into the hall to find Rachel. She was sitting at the nurses station, wearing a stethoscope, pretending to listen to an orderly's heartbeat.

"Can I see Mommy now?"

"Not right now." he shook his head. "You just need to give her a little more time to rest."

House turned his attention to the nurse that had been staying with Rachel.

"Nurse...Jones, is it?" he said after leaning forward to look at her identification. "I want to talk to Cuddy's doctor. Where is he?"

"That would be Dr. Ramsey, but he's not available right now."

"Well you get him on that phone, and you tell him to make himself 'available'. I need to know all of the details of this case."

"I'm sorry, he was called into emergency surgery, but even if he were here, I don't know that he could discuss the case with you. You aren't a relative. "

"I'm a doctor!"

"But you're not _her_ doctor." she reached out to touch his arm, but he angrily withdrew from her "I think you need to go and get some rest, and this little girl needs her sleep. Where are you staying? We can call you as soon as Dr. Ramsey does his rounds in the morning, it should be around 8 am."

House silently cursed himself. Looking down at Rachel, he could see that she was exhausted, and it had never occurred to him to secure a hotel room.

"I guess I need to find us a place to sleep tonight."

"You know, we have housing for families of critically ill patients, I know we have a couple of suites available, would you like me to arrange one for you?."

"I think we better just find a hotel."

"Are you sure? It's right here on the hospital grounds. You would only be a couple of minutes away. And we also have a daycare on the second floor. "

House thought about it for a minute, maybe Nurse Jones here, was right. Not only would he be closer in case something happened, but it would mean less exposure. The more people he came in contact with, the better the chance that some disgruntled former patient or colleague was going to recognize him.

"Okay." he sighed. "But you tell Dr. Ramsey I expect full disclosure on this case."

After making arrangements, House and Rachel gathered their belongings from the car and and made their way to the suite. It wasn't anything fancy, but there was a double bed in the main room, and around the corner a small twin size. By this time, it was well past Rachel's bedtime, and even with all that was going on, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. House wasn't so lucky. He lay awake, fully dressed, for hours, running everything through his mind. In less than 24 hours, he had experienced a full swing of emotions.

His leg was throbbing, but he barely noticed. What he was feeling now was worse than any physical pain he had ever endured, and this time there wouldn't be any Vicodin to take the edge off. He didn't want it. This time he was going to be there for Cuddy 100%, even if she would never know it.

The sound of an incoming text message from Foreman caught his attention, and he flipped open the phone. It was just three words.

'How is she?'

'It's bad' he texted back.

Not wanting to get into it any further, House shut off his phone, and finally managed to drift off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, like so many before me, I will say: Please don't hold me to the medical details. I really do try to research things, but I'm not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV.  
**

The next morning, House got up and showered, getting dressed before Rachel was even awake. She must have been absolutely exhausted, and he almost hated to wake her. He stood over the bed, watching her for a few minutes. She was such a beautiful little girl. She seemed very well adjusted, and Cuddy really had done a fantastic job in raising her. He was also glad that nothing he had done, appeared to have caused any permanent damage.

They went to a restaurant, just near the hospital, to get some breakfast before heading to day care. He didn't really want to send her there, but there wasn't any choice. And then there was the obvious problem. He was taking way too many chances coming here, so close to home. Sooner or later, someone was going to recognize him, and all hell was going to break loose. House knew that would be the end of his freedom, and the end of his relationship with Rachel, so he was going to make the most of this time.

He pushed the food on his plate around, as he listened to Rachel chatting about anything and everything. School, toys, cartoons...and then she finally paused, looking up at House.

"Can I see Mommy today?" she finally asked.

"Not yet"

"Why not?"

"I told you, Rachel. She's hurt very bad, and she's sleeping right now."

"Maybe tomorrow?" she asked hopefully

"Maybe." he said, knowing he was lying. "Now finish your eggs. We have to get going."

After dropping Rachel off at daycare, he made his way up to the 3rd floor as fast as he could. It was important that he speak with her doctor, find out the details of the injury, and the surgery that followed. Being a doctor himself, he knew there was nothing really to do but wait, and that was frustrating.

"Is Dr. Ramsey here?" he asked. "I need to speak with him about Lisa Cuddy's case."

"He's doing rounds. He should be there shortly, if you would like to go in and wait."

It had been a different nurse, yet she asked no questions about him being in the ICU, and knew exactly where he was going. It gave him an uneasy feeling, making him feel that people were talking. Experience taught him that hospital gossip was never a good thing, especially in his situation. Still, there was nothing that he could do about it, so he moved quickly towards Cuddy's room, going immediately to her bedside. He was disappointed that there seemed to be no change, even though he knew better than to expect one. Before he even had a chance to say anything, he was interrupted by a voice from the other side of the room.

"Dr. Wilson?"

House looked up to see a short, dark haired man in a doctor's coat standing in the doorway. He looked to be in his late 40s, with a round face and wire rimmed glasses.

"I understand that you want to talk to me about Ms. Cuddy's condition."

"That's right."

"You know normally, I wouldn't be able to discuss this with you. But since you are a doctor, we can call this a consult."

"That her file?" he nodded towards the folder in Ramsey's hand.

"Yes, but..."

"Gimme." House said, motioning for him to hurry up and hand it to him. Disgusted with the hesitation, he grabbed it out his hands.

As he flipped through the pages of information, the attending doctor started giving a summary of the case. He only heard bits and pieces, since he was intent on finding something in the file that would make a difference.

_Bleeding in the brain_

_High ICP_

_Possible brain damage_

_3 broken ribs_

_Probable long recovery_

"When are you going to bring her out of this?" he gestured towards her bed. The coma."

"She seems to be responding well. If the swelling continues to go down, we should be able to start weaning her off of the barbituates in a few days. Hopefully she regains consciousness, but as you know, that's not guaranteed either."

House nodded and handed him back the file. He had hoped to find a mistake, a mystery, a puzzle. Something that he could figure out, and fix. There was nothing he could do for Cuddy now but wait and hope, and neither one of those things were in his nature.

He walked back over next to Cuddy and traced his hand lightly on her cheek. The facial swelling was going down, but the bruises...well bruises just always looked worse when they started to heal. The reddish blue was being replaced with a dark purple.

Hours passed as he sat by her bed, until finally it was time to go take Rachel to lunch. He didn't want to leave, but it was important to have some sort of normalcy for her. He leaned down, kissing Cuddy gently on the cheek, and whispering into her ear.

"I'll be back. I promise."

The restaurant seemed exceptionally busy, and House was irritated. All they needed was the check, so he could pay and get out of there, and back to Cuddy's room. He reached over and stole a french fry off of Rachel's plate.

"Hey kid, you ok?"

"Just sad. I miss Mommy."

"So do I."

"Is she gonna die?"

House had never been one to sugar coat anything. Not for a patient, and not for the families of patients. But in this case, he knew he had to dig down and try a different approach.

'I don't think so. She just needs some rest and some time. And you might really have to help her a lot when she comes home. Can you do that?"

Rachel nodded happily.

Finally, the waitress left the check on the table, and he struggled to his feet, leaning on his cane. His leg had tightened up over the last few days, and the ibuprofen just wasn't cutting it. As he stood in line, he heard the commotion behind him, even though he pretended not to.

"Is anyone here a doctor? I need help!"

The man's voice was frantic and panicked, and the restaraunt fell silent but for his pleading. House pushed a twenty dollar bill towards the cashier, but her attention was with the crisis on the other side of the room.

"Please! I need help!

House rolled his eyes and sighed loudly in disgust, grabbing Rachel's hand, and limping over to the situation.

"I'm a doctor. What's the prob..."

He looked down on the floor, and saw a boy, barely a teenager, gasping for breath on the floor. He was clutching his throat, eyes wide in panic. It was obviously anyphylactic shock.

"You've got to help him!"

"Does anyone have an epi pen?" House shouted

The crowd of people all looked at each other, but none of them answered. The hospital was just around the corner, but House knew by the time he got him there, the boy's throat would be completely closed shut. He had already passed out and his face was turning blue. He leaned down, tearing the boys shirt, freeing up his neck.

"Get me a knife" he shouted. "And someone call 911."

The crowd stood in shocked silence, but nobody moved.

"I said get me a knife! Unless you want to just stand there and watch this boy die, because he has maybe a minute or two until he's a moron!"

Finally, a waitress stumbled through the crowd with a knife, and handed it over to House. He hesitated for just a moment as he looked up at the gawking crowd. He had done this before, but never with such an audience.

"Now get me some sort of tube. A pen, a straw, something." he said, feeling the area between the boys adams apple and breastbone. Slowly and deliberately, he cut an incision into the neck, and then another until he had the necessary access. He looked around, and saw the outstretched hand of a patron, holding a straw. Grabbing it, he worked it into the holes that he just created, until it reached the windpipe. Definitely not a sterile environment, but there was no time.

He leaned back, kneeling on his good leg, watching the boys chest move up and down just slightly. Suddenly a wave of panic hit him, and he looked from left to right and back again.

"Rachel!"

Rachel grabbed hold of his jacket from behind, tugging it to get his attention. He pulled her into a hug, relieved that she had not disappeared.

"Did you fix him?" she said, seemingly not affected by the blood or the panic.

"For the moment." he wiped his hands on a napkin, and turned to the father "get this kid to the hospital, NOW!"

House grabbed Rachel by the hand, and started to make his way out of the room.

"Wait! I just want to say thank you for saving my Son..."

"Forget it."

"No really. My name is Michael Anderson, and I would really like to do something to ..."

"When I said forget it, I mean forget it."

"But I really appreciate..."

"If you really do appreciate it," House said gruffly "Then you'll _forget about it_. Got it?"

He was grateful when the ambulance showed up, and it provided them the distraction they needed to get out of the building. Once safely down the street, he sat Rachel down on a bench.

"You ok kid? That was kind of scary."

"I wasn't scared. Knew you would make him better."

House stared at her in amazement. He could only figure that Cuddy had raised her around the hospital, since it just wasn't normal for her to be so unaffected. Before taking her back to day care, they stopped in the gift shop and picked her up a stuffed animal. A little brown dog, that Rachel clutched as if her life depended on it.

Once back at Cuddy's side, he replayed the earlier events in his head. The smarter thing to do would have been to keep quiet, to simply slip out of the restaraunt and let someone else deal with it. But old habits die hard, and in acting on instinct, he had saved the boy's life. Unfortunately, he had done the one thing that he simply couldn't afford to do. He drew attention to himself. He looked at readings on the heart monitor, and the EKG, and wondered if he would be able to keep up the charade long enough to see Cuddy wake up. He was so completely lost in thought, and didn't see the figure appear in the doorway.

"You really are a schmuck, you know that?"

"Arlene!"

House grabbed his cane, and stumbled to his feet. Eyes wide, he looked frantically at the window behind him, and back to the doorway that she was blocking. There was no way out.


	6. Chapter 6

House knew there was no way out of this situation. He glanced at Cuddy, and then back to Arlene. He sunk down into the chair in resignation,running his hand over his face.

"It's over." he mumbled

"Oh relax, I'm not going to call the cops."

"You..Wait..You're not?"

"No, but after that scene you created in the restaurant today, it's only a matter of time before someone does. You and that God complex of yours, do you and your ego have to be involved in everything?"

House was taken aback by the angry tone in her voice, but immediately went on the defensive.

"What? Your daughter is lying here in a coma and you're worried about me making a scene? And what was I supposed to do, let the kid die?"

"And you couldn't ditch the cane? Why don't you just take out a billboard announcing that you are here!"

"I...hey, this isn't some sort of fashion statement, you know!" he said, shaking the cane in her direction.

Arlene took a step inside the, closing the door part way behind her. House crossed the room to meet her.

"Wait a minute..." he said suspiciously. "I'm not sure what's more interesting here. The fact that you're not surprised to see me here, or that you don't seem surprised to see me _alive_. "

"That's not important. What's important is Lisa. She needs you here right now."

She sat down on the edge of the bed and put a hand on her daughter's arm.

"She needs ME? Where have you been? Did it occur to you to leave a phone number if you were going to go traipsing around the world.. "

"I've been making arrangements to bury my other daughter!" She snapped back, looking up at House with tears in her eyes. " A mother should never outlive her children."

"I'm sorry." he said, looking down at his feet. With everything going on, House had forgotten all about Julia.

"Besides, I was here when they brought her in, I signed off on them doing the brain surgery. This is probably all my fault. If I hadn't let them cut into her head..."

"If you hadn't, she would be dead right now. You had no choice. "

"Oh would you stop patronizing me and do something to help her? "

"There's nothing I can do..."

"The great Dr. House!" she yelled, throwing up her hands. "All those years, you broke every rule for patients who meant nothing to you, and you can't do the same for my daughter? For someone you supposedly loved?"

"I _do_ love her." The words came out before he realized it. He quickly continued, trying to cover. "Look, I read her file. There's no medical mystery here. I wish there was. I'm as helpless as you are. All we can do is wait. "

He now stood on the other side of the bed from her, still confused and angry, but also sympathetic. So it appeared that Arlene had been there from the start,probably shadowing them, but why would Foreman join her in this scheme?

_Everybody Lies_ he reminded himself

"Foreman called me, told me they couldn't find you. And that social services was coming for Rachel. Was any part of that true?

"Not exactly..."

"So it's just some elaborate trap? You didn't have to go to all that trouble, Arlene. I had no intention of ever contacting your daughter or Rachel ever again."

"That's the point, you moron!"

He shook his head. "Why don't you start from the beginning. You're not making any sense."

"When Lisa got word of your death, she went into a downward spiral. Oh she kept her anger for awhile, but that didn't last. You know her, she was convinced that your death was somehow her fault. That she had failed to save you. Nobody wallows in guilt better than my daughter."

"Guilt. That's what she felt? Explains why she didnt show at my funeral."

"Don't be an idiot. She loved you. You're the only man who has ever made her happy."

"Cuddy? Happy. I don't think so."

"And even Rachel wouldn't stop asking about you. I don't even understand how that kid even remembers you. Lisa just kept telling her that you went away, she couldn't even bring herself to tell her that you were dead."

"Which brings me to my next question..."

"How did I know?"

House nodded.

"After you died, she spent months moping around. Oh, the crying stopped after a few days, but she was devastated. For five months, she got up, went to work and came straight home and to bed. Wouldn't talk to anyone, wouldn't go anywhere, I was seriously thinking she needed some help. Then one day, out of the blue, Wilson calls."

"I knew it." House couldn't help but smirk.

"Of course she never told me anything, but all of the sudden she was acting...different. Conflicted. If I had any doubts what that phone call was about, they went away when we went to Wilson's funeral. Lisa and Foreman spent way too much time huddled in the corner. Of course she was still acting all mysterious and dramatic, but she didn't seem to be mourning you anymore. "

House threw himself back down in the chair. So she had known that he was alive all this time. Certainly Wilson had told her where to find him, otherwise what was the point of calling? Yet still, she had made no effort whatsoever to contact him. Somehow, it was was easier to take that she thought he was dead. And then there was the fact that she had gone back for Wilson's funeral, but not his. It all pointed to one thing. She was not only over him, but she just didn't care anymore.

"None of this explains how you got Foreman to set me up."

"I simply explained to him that you needed something to live for after Wilson was gone. A purpose in life, so you didn't self destruct."

"Uh huh."

"Oh all right, I may have mentioned something about aiding and abetting. There is a limit to his loyalty."

"That sounds more like it."

"I'm going to sit with her for awhile," she said, nodding towards the younger Cuddy, "and then I'm going to pick up Rachel. I think she should stay with me from now on."

"You're taking Rachel?" he asked, unable to hide his disappointment.

"I think it's best. With all the attention that you've been drawing, there's no telling when you might have to make a run for it."

House stood up, pacing the floor, running eveyrthing that she had been saying through his head.

"I'm not going anywhere. I just want to be here when she wakes up, make sure that she's okay, and then I'm turning myself in."

"You're what? Do you know how much time you're facing?"

"I do. Faking my death was just a way to spend Wilson's last few months with him. I want to put it behind me now. I want to move on."

"To where?"

"I don't know."

Arlene stayed for a couple of hours, sitting silently at her daughter's bedside, as House alternated between pacing and sitting by the window. Finally, she stood up to leave.

"I'm going to pick up Rachel. Why don't you go to your room and get a couple of hours sleep. I spoke with the doctor, nothing is going to happen until they change her medicines."

"I know. he nodded. "I might, just for a while."

House stayed awhile longer, then went back to the room to try and get a little rest. He didn't like leaving her, but he also didn't feel comfortable spending the night in the hospital, especially after the incident at the restaraunt. He had noticed the nurses peering in as they passed by, whispering in the halls. It didn't give him a good feeling.

Try as he might, he couldn't get to sleep. Instead, he just lay there, tossing and turning, until there was a knocking sound. He jumped up, and limped over to the door, so startled that he forgot his cane. His hand hesitated at the door knob, until the knocking continued, and then he heard a familiar voice.

"It's Arlene."

At first he sighed in relieft, then thought something might be wrong, and he jerked the door open. Immediately Rachel ran forward and put her arms around him, causing him to staggar backwards. After catching his balance, he gave Arlene a questioning look. She shrugged.

"I couldn't get her to settle down. She missed you."


	7. Chapter 7

House painfully knelt down in front of Rachel, and she threw her arms around his neck.

"Don't go away again." she said, almost tearfully.

"I'm not going to go away...well, not if I can help it anyway."

Arlene couldn't help but shake her head at the sight in front of her.

"Look at you two. A few days together and all of the sudden you're father of the year?" and then she added. "This newfound attachment might not be such a good idea, especially if you plan to..."

"Arlene!" he interrupted hastily. "Your jealousy is showing."

"I'm not jealous. I'm realistic."

"Whatever."

"Why didn't you come get me today?" Rachel sniffed . "I thought you left."

House's heart was breaking. How had he managed to allow himself, or her for that matter, to get so attached in such a short period of time? He knew that Arlene was right, it wasn't going to be good for anyone involved. Sooner or later, he was going to have to turn himself in, and be out of her life again. Hopefully by that time, Cuddy would be recovered and Rachel wouldn't even give him a second thought. But one thing was obvious, it was too late to worry about any of that now.

"I just thought you might want to spend some time with Grandma." he said, watching as Arlene winced at the term , then whispered into her ear. "I'll make you a deal. I won't ever leave you without saying goodbye, okay?"

She nodded, as the promise seemed to satisfy her, at least for the moment.

"It's late. She might as well stay here for the night. I probably shouldn't stay all night in the hospital anyway. The less people that see me the better."

"Agreed. But sooner or later..."

"Look," he snapped "It was your idea to bring me here. Now that I am, you don't get to play the part of gloom and doom Jewish mother. It's too late to worry about it now."

She nodded, deciding it best to let it go for the moment.

"Rachel, do you want to stay with House tonight?"

"Wilson." she said, looking perplexed. "His name is Wilson. Don't you know about the game?"

"That's my girl." House said proudly. "I always knew you were going to be a braniac."

"Oh please..."

"You can stay too, if you would like." he said sarcastically.

"Well tempting as that sounds, I think I will stay in the hospital room tonight." she headed for the door, then turned back around. "The Doctor called me awhile ago. He thinks that it's time to cut back on the medications - see if they can bring Lisa out of this."

House managed to get to his feet, gingerly putting weight on his leg. Rachel ran over and grabbed his cane, taking it to him, and he forced a smile. He was unsure of how to feel, on one hand this is what he wanted. To see Cuddy open her eyes, breathe on her own, and come out of this coma with no damage. But there was no guarantee that would happen, and part of him feared the worst.

"I'll be there first thing. You call me if anything happens?"

He started to reach for a pen to scribble his number down but she waved him off.

"No need for that. Foreman gave it to me."

"Of course."

And with that, she was gone, leaving House to tuck Rachel in for the night. Once she was finally settled in, he sat on the edge of the bed, running things through his mind. He had a strange sense of deja vu. The feeling was familiar to him, and he didn't like it. It was fear. Through everything that had happened in his life, nothing had ever made him feel so helpless as the thought of losing Cuddy. As terrifying as it was, though, he was glad that he had ditched the Vicodin. This time there would be no drugs to dull the pain, no taking the easy way out. He was going to feel every bit of it.

After tossing and turning most of the night, he glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. 5:30 am. Too soon to wake Rachel, but he made his way to the shower. He braced himself against the stall as the water rained down on him. There was so much that he wanted to say to Cuddy, so much to explain. Part of him was afraid that she would take one look at him and scream for the police. He couldn't really blame her if she did. But was there a chance that Arlene was right? Did she still care about him, or was it just guilt that would fade as soon as she saw that he was alive?

He stepped out of the shower, drying himself and pulling on a pair of jeans. Leaning foward against the sink, he looked at the face in the mirror. The stress of losing Wilson, combined with the events of the last few days had taken its toll. Running a hand over his face, he realized that he looked and felt like hell.

By the time he got Rachel dressed and off to daycare, it was almost 9 am. Anxious as he was to get back to Cuddy, he knew that it was going to take awhile to bring her out of her coma. It was going to take hours, or if something was wrong, maybe days, but still he wanted to get back to her side. When he arrived, he saw Arlene sitting in the chair beside the bed, a worried look on her face.

"Has something happened?" he asked, concerned.

"No," she shook her head. "The doctor was in. He said they cut back on her medicines first thing this morning."

His eyes quickly scanned the numbers on the machines, and he could see there was no change in the numbers. Even though he knew that it would take hours, he still found himself worrying.

"As long as you're here, I'm going to go get some coffee." she said

House nodded and took a seat beside the bed, sliding the chair closer. Once she was gone, he covered Cuddy's hand with his, and lowered his head.

It was well into the afternoon before he began to see a significant change in the vitals. Her brainwave activity was picking up, and her heart rate had increased steadily throughout the day. House could feel his own heart beating so hard it felt like it would burst from his chest. Though he wouldn't admit it to himself, he had been longing to speak with her again ever since the incident. The whole time that he was in prison, he tried to push thoughts of her out of his mind. Even though he tried to convince everyone that he didn't care about her, the one person that he couldn't convince was himself. Now all he wanted was a chance to apologize, to try and make things right.

Arlene stood up and started pacing the room.

"Why is it taking so long?" she asked nervously.

"They have to bring her out it slowly. If she's going to come out of this, it should be anytime now."

"If?"

"We have to be realistic."

He knew that he shouldn't have phrased it that way, but he was never one to be anything less than blunt. They both had to be prepared for the worst of all possibilities. He glanced at his watch, frustrated when he saw that it was almost time for Rachel's daycare to close.

"I'll go take care of Rachel." Arlene volunteered, as if reading his mind.

"Are you sure?"

"I want you to be here when she wakes up. That damned doctor of hers has been MIA all day. And besides, I know that you will take care of her."

"Thank you," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'll call you when I have news. "

Arlene leaned down and gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before turning and leaving the room.

House leaned back in the chair, tapping his cane nervously on the floor. It was barely fifteen minutes after Arlene had left the room when he began to notice things changing quickly. The heart monitor was beeping faster, more at a normal rate, and she appeared to be getting restless. He knew it wasn't going to be very long now. He took hold of her hand, knowing that she was going to be struggling when she regained consciousness.

"Cuddy...can you hear me?"

Arlene had picked up Rachel from daycare, and was just putting her in the car when she heard the sirens. She turned her head in time to see two police cars come to a screeching halt in front of the hospital doors. Her heart sank as she quickly got Rachel back out of the car.

"Where are we going, Grandma?"

"Come on, Rachel. We have to hurry."


	8. Chapter 8

House tightened his grip on Cuddy's arm as he felt her begin to struggle. She was waking up, agitated, and confused. Before her eyes were even open, she was trying to grasp at the tubes.

"Cuddy, it's all right. Don't fight it."

But she either wasn't listening or wasn't comprehending what he was saying and she continuted to reach for the ventilator that felt as if it were choking her.

"It' all right...you need to calm down and let it breathe for you. Relax, it's ok. I'm here..."

He heard the nurses come in the room behind him, and they were trying to take his place at her bed. He knew they were going to either drug her again or put her in restraints, and that just wasn't going to happen.

"I've got this!" he snarled, taking hold of both of Cuddy's arms, still trying to calm her down. "I know you're confused, but you need to calm down. You were in an accident, and you're on a ventilator. Do you understand?"

Suddenly her eyes opened, and in them he saw just a flash of recognition. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, or if it was real. Then he felt it. Her hand tightened around his, and she seemed to calm down and stop fighting. He let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, and his eyes welled with tears. She was drifting in and out of consciousness and closed her eyes again.

"She recognized me, did you see that?" he said excitedly to no one in particular.

He turned towards the nurses in the room, ready to bark out orders, but felt his heart stop when he saw the officers coming through the door.

"Oh God, no, not now." he pleaded.

"Doctor House, please move away from the patient and come outside with us."

"No...No...no don't do this. I'll go with you, just let me talk to her first...please!"

The desperation in his voice had no effect on the officers. One of them retrieved handcuffs from his belt and moved in House's direction.

"No just let me _talk to her_! Just give me five minutes!" he pleaded. "Cuddy! Cuddy can you hear me?"

"Ok, we can do this the hard way."

Both officers continued towards House, one grabbing each arm, as his cane fell to the ground. He tried in vain to pull away from them, desperate to stay in the room. As one of them twisted his arm behind his back, the other forced him to his knees.

"What the hell are you doing?" Arlene's voice boomed from the hallway. "This is my daughter's hospital room!"

"This man is a fugitive, he's coming with us."

House looked up to see that Arlene was standing just outside the door, with Rachel in tow. His body went limp as he stopped fighting. He wasn't going to make this any harder on the little girl than it already was.

"Ok, I'll go with you, just take it easy in front of the kid." he said, his eyes moving towards Cuddy, whose eyes were still closed.

"You're not really in a position to negotiate."

House groaned in pain and they jerked his other arm behind and his back and forcefully put the cuffs on. Helping him to his feet, they began to read off the list of charges. He wasn't really listening, none of it mattered now.,

"Dr. Gregory House, you are under arrest for probation violation, falsification of medical records, kidnapping..."

"Kidnapping?" House and Arlene said in unison

"He did not 'kidnap' anyone, I _asked_ him to go get my granddaughter!"

"You knew Dr. House was alive? What's your name, m'am ?"

"Arlene, shut up!" House snapped.

He looked back over at Cuddy, trying to move his body in that direction, but they took hold of each arm, leading him out of the room. Rachel had been taking all of this in, and suddenly seemed to realize what was happening. She threw herself at lead officer's legs, beating on him with all her might.

"No! Leave House alone! Don't take him away again!" she screamed.

"Rachel, stop." Arlene said calmly, trying to pull her away.

"Look, just give me a minute to talk to the kid, ok? Let me calm her down. "

Both officers looked around them and saw that a crowd was forming. Not wanting to attract any more attention, they motioned for him to get on with it.

"Rachel, I have to go away for awhile. I don't want to, but I can't help it."

"You can't go again!" she cried "You have to fix Mommy!"

"Remember, I told you I did some bad things?"

Rachel nodded, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I still have to be punished. I'll be back, kid. I just don't know when."

Rachel was still sobbing uncontrollably. He felt bad for what she had gone through this past few days. The fear of losing her mother was bad enough, but now he had allowed her to become attached to him, only making it worse. She was clinging tightly to his leg, but the cuffs did not allow him to even reach down and hug her.

"Arlene, call Foreman. She's starting to come out of it, and I want a doctor with her than I can trust."

"Is she all right?"

"Too soon to tell."

"All right, Doc, let's get a move on."

House nodded, glancing longingly back towards Cuddy, and then back to Rachel. At that moment, he remembered the promise that he had made to her the night before.

"Goodbye, Rachel."

The officers took hold of him again and began to lead him down to the elevators.

"Wait, where are you taking him?" Arlene called after them.

"To the County jail until we process him, then we're going to ship his ass back to NJ."

"House, don't say anything. I'll get you a lawyer!"

Rachel made an effort to run after them, but Arlene snagged her and pulled her back towards her. She wanted so much to go into the room and see Lisa, but wasn't sure what to do with Rachel. A familiar nurse, as if reading her mind, came over and offered assistance.

"I'll take her back to the nurses station with me for a minute if you like."

She stood there, contemplating her next move, when Dr. Ramsey came down the hallway.

"What's going on here?" he demanded. "Where are they taking Dr. Wilson?"

"That doesn't matter now. Where the hell have you been all day?"

"I assure you Ms. Cuddy, I have been kept informed of her condition." he glanced back, seeing House being escorted into the elevator. "I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this, but right now, I need to check on my patient."

Arlene reassured Rachel that she would only be gone for a minute, and followed the doctor into the room. When she got to the bed, she realized that Lisa was awake.

"She's awake, her eyes are open!"

"Her eyes are open, but that doesn't mean she's conscious."

Arlene looked into her daughters eyes, seeing fear, confusion and sadness. There was no doubt she was awake.

"It's going to be okay, Lisa."

Cuddy moved a hand weakly towards the ventilator tube again, and Dr. Ramsey pulled it away.

"Not yet, not yet." he said "We'll get this out soon, but first, we need to make sure you are capable of breathing on your own. Do you understand?"

Cuddy's eyes moved from one and back to the other. She looked confused, but gave no other response. The Dr. took out a penlight, waving it in front of her, seeing if she was following any movement.

"How is she?"

"It's too soon for me to say." he said, making notations on her chart. "If all goes well through the night, we will try and remove her from the ventilator tomorrow. But right now, she still has some medications in her system."

House sat in the back of the police car, while the officers checked in with dispatch. So close. He had been so close. All he had wanted was to get a chance to talk with her, apologize...make sure that she was all right. Once again, his choices had come back to haunt him. He felt the car start moving, and leaned his head back against the seat, watching the hospital lights disappear into the distance.


	9. Chapter 9

The doctor finished making notations on Cuddy's chart, then motioned for Arlene to walk out of the room with him.

"Put her in restraints." he said to the nurse on the way out "Just her arms, for now, unless she gets too restless."

Once out in the hall,he took the elder Cuddy aside.

"The restraints are only temporary, just to prevent her from pulling out the tubes." he explained, "Coma patients are often combative and confused, it's really for her own protection."

Arlene nodded "What happens now?"

"We let her rest for the night, and tomorrow, we will try and remove her from the ventilator. It's a slow process."

"When will know if..." her voice trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

"She will probably have difficulty for awhile. Possible motor function issues, speech, vision...we won't really know until we can assess her better."

"Oh God."

"She might come out of this just fine. It's really too early too tell. But I do have a suggestion, something that might help her."

"Anything, what can I do?"

"When she awakens, we probably shouldn't tell her yet about her sister. Keep the details to a minimum, there was an accident, she's in the hospital. Short and sweet."

"She's going to ask about her sister. You want me to lie to her?"

"No, I 'm just suggesting you avoid the topic if at all possible. She may not even remember that her sister was with her."

"Ok, you're the doctor. The only one I've got, at the moment." the last part was mumbled under her breath.

"I think it best if you don't mention Dr. House either, given what's happened to him. He obviously won't be coming back anyway."

"Well he was here, she had to have seen him, heard him!"

"No," he said, shaking his head "More than likely she was still in a semi concious state. As I said before, even when her eyes are open, it doesn't necessarily mean she was alert."

"I know my daughter,she was awake. And she _knew_ that he was here, whether she saw him or not. She felt it. You don't know the history between these two."

"Even if that's the case, she will more than likely think she was dreaming. If we upset her, she could have a setback. She's going to be very fragile for awhile."

"All right." she relented, glancing back into the room, seeing the nurses working on the restraints. "I don't want to leave her, but I have to take care of her daughter."

"Of course. We will call you if anything happens."

"Thank you, doctor."

Arlene ran things through her mind, as the doctor walked towards the nurse's station. And that's when the realization hit her. Something didn't add up.

"Doctor!" she called after him

"Yes?"

"How did you know his name was House?"

"Well, I...I mean I thought, oh I must have heard someone call him that."

"No you didn't." she said, closing the distance between them. "When you got here, the police were already taking him away."

"Ms. Cuddy..."

"And even if you had, how would you know that he won't be coming back for awhile? How do you know it's not something that will get cleared up and he will come back tonight?"

"You need to calm down..."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she yelled "Tell me how you knew his name was House?"

He sighed, knowing there was no point in keeping the ruse going.

"Look, the paramedics brought that kid here after that incident in the restaraunt. One of them asked some questions...word got around. I was curious. When I did a search on Dr. Wilson, well...imagine my surprise when I found out that Dr. James Wilson had died. Over six months ago."

"Wilson is a pretty common name. You need to do better than that."

"Ms. Cuddy, I knew who your daughter was when she was brought in here. She was a well respected Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro for many years. Once I found out Dr. Wilson was dead, I did some digging. When you google Lisa Cuddy, something very interesting comes up. Something involving a car, a house, and a doctor with a cane."

"You bastard. You called the police!"

"I was only doing what was best for my patient, and what I feel I was required to do. He's a convicted criminal, he's supposed to be dead. I couldn't take the chance that he was going to hurt her again, not in my hospital."

"He's not going to hurt her, you moron! He was here to help her. You think I would let him take care of my granddaughter if I thought he was a danger to anyone?"

"Frankly, I wondered about that myself. I'm sure the police will have some questions for you regarding that matter."

Arlene took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger under control.

"You're fired."

"What? You can't..."

"If you go near my daughter again, it will be ME calling the police this time. I'm her next of kin, I'm making the decisions."

"Ms. Cuddy..."

"Get the hell away from me. And stay away from Lisa!"

Angry as she was, she did her best to get try and hide it, knowing that Rachel was just down the hall at the nurse's station. She stormed away from the Doctor, who was still standing there, dumbfounded.

"Come on, Rachel," she said, taking her by the hand. "Your Mommy needs a little more rest. We need to go back to the hotel and get you something to eat."

"No," Rachel said, her lower lip trembling. "I want to go with House."

"I'm sorry, honey, you can't. Not right now."

"When will he be back? Where did they take him?"

"I don't know when he will be back, Rachel. But maybe after dinner you can write him a letter. Would that make you feel better?"

She knew that it wouldn't, but at the moment, it was all she had to offer. The poor girl had been through way too much in the past week, it was a wonder that she wasn't a basket case.

As soon as they were out of the ICU, she flipped her phone open, and immediately dialed Foreman's number. He picked up on the second ring, having recognized the number.

"Arlene? How's Cuddy?"

"I honestly don't know. They're trying to bring her out of her coma but she's still hooked up to those machines."

"That's normal. They have to make sure she can breathe on her own before they..."

"Foreman, I need you here. Lisa needs you here."

He now recognized the almost panicked tone in her voice, and suddenly became worried.

"What's happened? Where is House?"

"He's been arrested. He told me to call you. I've fired her doctor, and I just can't trust these people, I need your help."

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. It was a risk that he knew he was taking all along. Sooner or later, he knew that House would get caught, and it was inevitable that his part in all of this was going to come to light. Throwing himself into the spotlight now, by showing up and taking over another doctor's case, was just asking for trouble. Still, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Cuddy, and he had not gone to help her.

"All right. I'll get there as soon as I can."

[*******]

House sat alone in the cell, feeling completely helpless. He had been so close to getting a chance to speak to her, to apologize, to help her through this. Part of him knew that there was a chance she would have tossed him right out of the room, but even that would have been preferable to being ripped away from her the way he was. He needed to know how she was, to monitor her treatment, to take care of her, and Rachel. He knew now that he was facing 5 years just on the records charge alone, and would probably never see her again.

He could hear the taunting and howling of different inmates in the cells around him. And then there was the awful smell in the prison, it was all too familiar to him, and something that he had never wanted to experience again. If he thought that he had hit rock bottom before, this was a thousand times worse. Wilson being gone was almost too much to bear, and if he lost Cuddy, there was no way that he could survive that. When it was time for lights out, he stretched out onto the cot, almost grateful to be consumed in the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

House tossed and turned most of the night, his mind not allowing him to sleep. How was she? Was she awake now? Was anyone going to keep him updated on her condition? He let out a sigh as he realized that he may have outlived his usefulness. he was nothing but trouble to her and anyone that he cared about, and maybe it was best if they all just forgot about him. But still...he needed to know that Cuddy was all right.

"Time for breakfast." a guard announced at his cell door.

"Not hungry."

"Don't make trouble."

"And how exactly is my lack of appetite making any trouble for you?" House snapped.

"Let's go."

House opened his mouth to continue the banter, but then stopped short. Suddenly, he was hit with the realization that he just didn't have it in him anymore. He had lost everything that mattered to him, and the fight that used to boil inside of him was gone. He threw up his hands in mock surrender and silently followed the line of prisoners heading to the chow line.

Foreman had a lot of arrangements to make before he could just leave Princeton Plainsboro. He knew there was also a distinct possiblity that he wasn't coming back, at least not to this job. How had he allowed himself to get into this mess, he would never know. Usually he was almost robotically logical about things, not letting emotions getting in the way. Yet he had basically risked his career for two of his former bosses. As he tossed the last shirt into the suitcase, he smiled and shook his head. It was time to admit they were not just bosses, but friends.

It was almost afternoon before he finally found his way to the hospital. He had tried to make phone contact with Dr. Ramsey, but he had refused to take his calls, probably since he was ordered off the case. He was, however, able to keep up on her condition through the nurses and the on call doctor. When he walked into Cuddy's room, he was met with a rather agitated Arlene Cuddy.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, "All things considered, I had to get some things in order. Not sure what's going to happen now."

Arlene looked at him and her facial expression softened. She clearly got the message in between the lines.

"And I'm sorry that I got you into this. I should have known this wouldn't end well, but I thought I was doing the right thing."

Foreman crossed the room and picked up the chart at the foot of the bed. This wasn't the time to discuss any of this. He looked up to see that Cuddy's eyes were fluttering open and closed, as if she was trying to fight sleep. She was also coughing a bit, as if fighting the ventilator. He reached down and untied the wrist restraints.

"Was she combative when she woke up?"

"Somewhat. House had her calmed down and then the police came in and took him away..."

"Let's not talk about that right now." he said, quickly cutting her off. "Has she made any effort to communicate?"

"Not really, but they've had her so doped up she's hardly been awake. That can't be good, right? I thought the idea was to get her off the drugs and wake her up?"

"I called in before I left PPTH. Had them stop the sedatives, so she should be coming around by now."

She made eye contact with him, but there was no indication that she recognized him. She moved her fingers a bit, as if trying to work the stiffness out, and it gave him hope that maybe she was somewhat coherent.

"Cuddy, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

The lack of response was upsetting to Arlene.

"Oh how do you expect her to answer you with that tube down her throat!"

"Well if you hadn't fired her doctor, he probably would have taken it out by now." he remarked, pressing the call button for the nurse. "She's fighting it, a sign that she's ready to breathe on her own."

Foreman rolled up his sleeves and moved closer to the head of the bed. He heard the nurse come up behind him.

"Something you need, Dr. Foreman?"

"I'm going to take her off the ventilator now."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Dr. Ramseys' orders were to..."

"I didn't call you in here for a second opinion! Just be ready in case we need to intubate her again."

" Of course." she stammered, "I'm sorry."

Foreman took a deep breath, readying himself to remove the tube. This was a procedure that he had done so many times before, yet never had he felt like he had so much riding on it. Never had it been someone that _really_ mattered to him. The anxiousness in Cuddy's eyes brought him out of his thoughts, and he reached for the tube. She was getting restless.

"Ok, you know the drill right? I'm going to pull this, and you're going to cough. Just try to relax."

He thought there was understanding in her eyes, but he wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking. Slowly he removed the tube as she coughed and gagged. After the initial discomfort, she seemed to calm down and breathe on her own. A glance at the monitors told him that so far, all was well.

"Lisa," Arlene whispered, leaning in, "Lisa, it's Mom. Can you hear me?"

They noticed it at the same time. Just a slight nod of affirmation, but they both let out a loud sigh of relief. Clearly, she wasn't in any way out of the woods, but it was an encouraging sign. Foreman took a small light out of his pocket, shining it briefly in each of her eyes, testing the reaction.

Cuddy raised a hand to her forehead, feeling the bandage covering the wounds. Her eyes took in the room around her, and she seemed to be trying to make sense of it. She glanced at Foreman and back to her mother, when suddenly her eyes widened. She appeared to be trying to speak, but couldn't form the words.

"Nurse," Foreman said "Please get her some ice chips."

"Don't try to talk, dear, just take it easy for now." Arlene said, reaching up to brush a hair out of her daughter's eyes. "I'm just glad you came back to us."

Cuddy was clearly anxious at her inability to get out the words that she so desperately wanted to speak.

"You need to calm down, and I'll try to explain what's going on." he reassured her. "There was a car accident. You had had a head injury, and they had to do surgery for a bleed in the brain. Do you understand?"

Once again, she nodded, but the explanation didn't seem to do much to calm her.

"If you're worried about Rachel, she's fine."

As soon as Arlene said it, she regretted it. While she wanted to reassure her about Rachel, she definitely didn't want to do anything to make her remember Julia right now. It was obvious that she was upset enough as it was.

The nurse brought in the cup of ice chips, and Arlene tried to put it up to her daughter's lips. Instead, Cuddy pushed it away, forcefully, sending it flying part way across the room. The quick movement caused her to moan in pain, as she quickly became aware of the fact that she had broken ribs.

A look of concern crossed Foreman's face. He really didn't want to sedate her again, but at this rate, she was only going to hurt herself. He looked over at the nurse, who was still watching from the doorway.

"2 mg of Ativan."

Cuddy's eyes got wide and she shook her head, getting more upset by the minute.

"I'm sorry," Foreman said sympathetically, "But you're not doing yourself any good this way. It will just help you relax. "

The nurse returned to the room, and Foreman held out his hand to take it from her. He stared at it intently,as if he couldn't decide whether to use it or not. Finally he reached up towards her IV bag. When he did, Cuddy reached out and grabbed his coat, pulling him down to her.

"Cuddy, what..."

Finally, she found her voice, if only for one word.

"H...H...HOUSE!"


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry for the delay in posting a new chapter. This one was tough for me to write, and I'm not entirely happy with it, but here it is.**

"I knew she was awake!" Arlene exclaimed.

Foreman motioned to her, as if telling her not to get too excited. He reached down and took hold of Cuddy's hand, removing it from his coat.

"Cuddy, what about House?"

It was obvious to everyone in the room that she knew exactly what she wanted to say, but was having trouble forming the words. The result of the brain trauma, no doubt, but it could just be temporary. The most important thing was, she seemed to be coherent and alert.

"Here!" she said after a great struggle.

It was a statement, not a question. Her eyes darted around the room, as if looking for him. Not much was clear in her mind right now, but she was certain that she had seen those piercing blue eyes staring at her. It must have been real, she couldn't have been dreaming, right?

The silence was agonizing, and finally Foreman replied.

"Yes, he was here But I don't think we should talk about this now."

Cuddy gripped his hand, as if demanding an explanation.

"Lisa," Arlene whispered. "He was here, but he's been arrested."

Cuddy's eyes widened and she let go of Foreman's hand, raising it to her forehead as if in pain. None of this was making any sense to her. Bits and pieces of information were starting to come together in her mind. She had been in an accident, that much was obvious. The sight of her mother and Foreman hovering over her, let alone House, indicated that it was pretty bad. She struggled to remember the events that brought her here. Suddenly, something came to her.

"Julia?" she managed, raising her head from pillow.

Foreman and Arlene exchanged a look, one which told Cuddy everything she needed to know. Still, she needed to hear it, to know for sure. Her eyes pleaded for an answer.

"I'm sorry, dear. Julia didn't make it."

Cuddy let her head fall back to the pillow with a thud. She turned away from them, staring blankly as a tear rolled down her cheek. Everything was coming back to her now, she remembered looking over and seeing her sister's face covered in blood. Thank God Rachel had not been in the car with them. And then seeing House...she never thought she would see his face again. How had he found out about her, and why did he take such a chance in coming here?

"I know you're confused." Foreman said sympathetically, "Just try to relax. Chances are your speech problems are temporary, and the fogginess you're probably feeling should subside. We're going to have to start working on physical therapy as soon as possible."

He motioned for Arlene to join him in the hallway, out of earshot.

"This is just all too much for her to handle. If only House were here, he could..."

"Look, if you think Rachel can handle it, maybe you should bring her in to see Cuddy. It might ease her mind and give her some motivation."

"Will they let her in the ICU?"

"I'll speak to the nurses. She'll be moved out of her soon anyhow." he said, as he started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"To the prison. House must be going crazy right about now."

By this point, House was pacing inside the cell like a caged animal. He knew this was what he deserved, where he belonged, but he needed to know about Cuddy. Where was the lawyer that Arlene had promised? He was starting to wonder if it was one big grand set up after all. Was this the plan all along? He threw himself up against the cell door, grabbing hold of the bars.

"Hey!" he yelled to nobody in particular. "I want my phone call! I know my rights, you have to let me call a lawyer!"

At first there was nothing but silence in response, until finally he heard footsteps coming towards him. The guard stood in from his cell, keys in hand.

"You have a visitor."

"About time!" House grumbled. "Let me guess, is he bald and black?"

Without answering, the guard put the key in the lock and opened the door, ushering him out. House found it odd that he didn't even bother to put the handcuffs on him as he escorted him down the hall. He limped along in front of the guard, who guided him through the main door, and out to an area that looked like a small office. They stopped just outside the door to an office.

"In there." the guard ordered.

None of this seemed right, but House followed direction and opened the door.

"Where the hell have you..."

He stopped short. Even from behind he could tell that the man sitting at the table was not Foreman. He narrowed his eyes as he circled around to the front.

"Are you my lawyer?" he asked gruffly, still studying the man's face.

"Not exactly," he replied. "I'm assuming you don't remember me?"

House threw himself down in the chair and stretched his leg out, rubbing it as he looked intently at the man across the table. It only took a moment or two before he realized that he was the man from restaurant. It confirmed what he had always known - no good deed goes unpunished.

"I thought I asked you to forget about me."

"So you do recognize me?"

"Yeah," House shrugged, "Michael something or other. Look if your kid needs a doctor now, you're going to have to look elsewhere. I'm a little busy."

"Michael Anderson. Actually, The Honorable Judge Michael Anderson."

House was intrigued and confused, but he showed no reaction.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"You really are the arrogant bastard they said you were. Well, no matter..."

"They? Who the hell are they?"

"After you disappeared from the restaurant, I wanted to thank you. To acknowledge what you had done. Someone there thought they had seen you at the hospital, and I asked a PI friend of mine to ask some questions."

"A PI? His name wasn't Lucas was it?"

"Lucas? No, why?"

"Nevermind." House grumbled

"Anyway, in asking questions, I think he confirmed some suspicions, and stirred up trouble for you. Once he had nailed down your true identity, it didn't take much digging before he found out about your past."

House was getting frustrated, and having trouble keeping his anger in check. It was only a matter of time before he had been caught anyway, so the anger didn't stem from that. But what the hell was this guy doing here, what was the purpose of this so called visitation?

"Why the hell are you here? I don't need a judge right now, I need a lawyer."

"You know, I'm trying to do you a favor here. It would behoove you to calm down and hear me out."

House rolled his eyes and gestured for him to get on with it. The judge put on a pair of reading glasses, and began to read through some papers in front of him.

"Let's go over your criminal history. It seems to all start with driving your car through some woman's house."

"That's in the past." House cringed. "Don't want to talk about it."

"Then you violated your parole by committing felony vandalism."

"Yeah, like they can actually get finger prints from paper tickets that have been soaking in water for a day."

"The last one is the hardest to explain away. Faking your death via falsification of medical records." he looked up over his glasses at House "You gave up your medical career, and for all intents and purposes, your life, just to avoid 6 months in jail. You don't think that's a tad extreme?"

"You didn't get your money's worth with that investigator of yours. My best friend was dying. I wanted to spend his last 6 months with him. If I had gone back to prison, he would have been dead by the time I got out. I was going to turn myself in eventually..."

"I'm sorry about your friend."

"Let's talk about why you're here."

"Ok. To the point at hand. I've managed to call in some favors." he said, pushing the papers aside. "It seems I have managed to get some of my colleagues to agree with you. You can't get fingerprints from waterlogged paper. The parole violation will be tossed out."

"How?"

"I've arranged for you to appear in front of a Judge Foster in two hours. Let's just say he owes me one. "

"And the medical records?"

"Well any incompetent worker in the records department could have been at fault for that. Never can trust those people."

"Huh. So you have this all figured out."

"Not exactly. I'm not a miracle worker, I can't get you completely off the hook until you finish your original sentence."

"But you just said..."

"You left the jurisdiction, never checked in with any parole officer. I can't do much more than this without raising too many eyebrows, and jeopardizing my career. Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it." House whispered.

"Good," he said, standing up. "I'll send in your lawyer and he can brief you on what to say."

House was lost in his thoughts, trying to process all that had happened. It was almost as if the hands of time had been turned back, with the exception of Wilson. He was getting yet another second chance that he didn't deserve.

"Wait!" House jumped up before the Judge could leave the room. "Any chance you have a phone I could use?"


	12. Chapter 12

The judge reached inside his breast pocket, taking out his phone. He shook his head as he looked at the display, then held the phone out to House.

"Not much service in here, but you can try. Make it fast."

"Thanks."

House quickly dialed Foreman's number, his anxiety growing. Everything seemed to be falling into place, and working out in his favor for once in his life. But all of that meant nothing without Cuddy.

By this time, Foreman was on his way to the jail, but stuck in traffic. He cursed the cars in front of him, his frustration building. He knew House all too well, and chances were he had self destructed and gotten himself tossed in solitary confinement. Not that anyone could blame him at this point. He was jarred out of his thoughts by the phone ringing.

"Dr. Foreman."

"How is she?" House blurted out.

"House?" he hadn't recognize the number. "Where the hell are you calling from?"

"How's Cuddy? Did she come out of it?"

"She's out of the coma, but it's too soon to tell very much. She seems to be aware of her surroundings." he paused, knowing what House was thinking. "She knew you were there, House."

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other end of the line.

"How do you know?"

"She sort of asked about you. There's some speech issues, but the one thing she managed to say was your name."

"I need to try and talk to her. Can you give her the phone?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not at the hospital. I was on the way to see you, to give you an update."

"Damn it."

"Look House, her vitals are good. It's too early to assess everything, but she appears to be completely aware of her surroundings. Right now, her biggest challenge is the emotional trauma. We had to tell her about her sister."

House closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had wanted to be there with her, wanted to be the one to break the news and comfort her.

"Foreman, don't bother coming here. I want you with her, I don't trust anyone else."

"She's fine for now..."

"Just do what I say!" he snapped, then lowered his voice. "I'm sorry. You don't need to worry about me, I think I've got things covered on this end."

"What does that mean? House...don't do anything stupid."

"Just worry about Cuddy." he said, ending the call and handing the phone back. "Thanks."

The judge nodded and put the phone back in his pocket. He opened the door, motioning towards to guard who was standing outside. Before leaving, he turned around to face House

"Don't screw this up, Dr. House."

Back at the hospital, Cuddy had continued to struggle with both her speech, and her emotions. As she lay in the hospital bed, her thoughts were jumbled around, nothing really very clear. She remembered almost nothing about the crash, which was probably for the best. The thought of never seeing her sister again was tearing her up. And then there was the mysterious appearance of House. He had given up everything that was important to him to be with Wilson. Now that he was gone, why would he come here and lose the last thing he had left - his freedom?

Cuddy had hated House for what he had done, or so she thought. She had to admit, all of the hate and anger that she had felt, had disappeared upon hearing the news of his death. She had always thought there would be time. Time to yell at him, and punish him for taking away her sense of security, and putting her life in danger. Time to make him suffer. And ultimately, time to forgive him. But even when Wilson called, telling her that he was alive, she still couldn't bring herself to go to him. If only he were here now...

"Up for some company?"

Cuddy turned her head towards her mother's voice. A smile crossed her face as she saw Arlene standing in the doorway, Rachel tightly gripping her hand. Still unable to get the words out as quickly as she wanted, she nodded and tried to sit up in the bed. Rachel let go of her grandmother's hand, and rushed over to the side of the bed, stopping short and taking in the sight of her mother.

"Hi Mommy."

Cuddy tried her best to extend her arms, as if reaching for a hug. Her body quickly reminded her of her injuries, and she grimaced.

"You okay?"

"Am okay." She answered after a struggle.

Rachel moved in closer and Cuddy put her arm around her, pulling her closer to her. There were tears in her eyes, but this time it was because she was relieved and happy. She was so grateful that Rachel had not been in the car with them, and also happy that her mother had been there to take care of her.

"Missed you." Cuddy said, still holding her tight as the tears began to fall.

"Don't cry, Mommy. I missed you, too. But House took really good care of me. He'll come back and take care of you too, he said he would try to make you better."

Arlene cringed as she heard the words. She knew that the truth would come out sooner or later, but she was hoping for later.

"Wh..what?" Cuddy looked at her mother for an explanation. "House?"

"Yeah, he came and got me and took care of me until Grandma got here." Rachel looked over at Arlene. "Was it still a secret?"

"Well, uh, no Honey," she answered, walking towards the bed. "I just hadn't had a chance to tell Mommy about it yet."

"Mom?" Cuddy said, her eyes pleading for an explanation.

"Well, Lisa, I know it's no excuse. But I had just lost one daughter, I couldn't stand the thought of losing another. Whe they brought you in here, they didn't know if you were going to make it or not. I thought he could help you. And, in his defense, he didn't exactly know what he was getting into. I may have deceived him a bit. It's a long story, we'll talk about this later."

Cuddy frowned at her mother, more confused than ever.

"House is coming back, isn't he Grandma?" Rachel asked, hopefully.

"I don't know, Rachel."

[***]

House sat at the table, drumming his fingers while he waited for the lawyer. His mind wandered back to his conversation with Foreman, and he wished that he had more details. So Cuddy had known that he was there, she had recognized him. A good sign, but it still didn't tell him what he needed to know - how did she feel about waking up and seeing him there? And what exactly did Foreman mean by 'some speech issues'? He was interrupted from his thoughts by the opening of the door. House looked up to see a tall, dark complected man, carrying a briefcase and wearing a tailored suit.

"Dr. House?"

"You're the lawyer, I assume?"

"Yes, I'm Doug Baldwin." he said, taking a seat in the chair opposite House. " I'll be representing you in this matter."

"Ok, so what happens now?"

"Well, we don't have much time to go over the details. We have to be back in New Jersey in less than 2 hours."

"New Jersey? What do you mean, New Jersey?"

"I thought you understood. The hearing is taking place in the state where you committed the original crimes."

House stood up and began to pace, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck.

"Are you sure there isn't any other way?"

"Look, Dr. House, I've looked over your file, and you don't seem to realize what a gift you're being given here. This is your last chance."

He was frustrated. He didn't know how long his sentence would be, and he didnt' want to leave without seeing Cuddy. But the lawyer was right, and House knew it. There wasn't any choice.

"Ok. Let's get this over with."


	13. Chapter 13

Cuddy's mind was was still a little cloudy, but she was trying to understand everything that had transpired since the accident. No matter how she tried, she couldn't quite get her thoughts to completeley focus yet, but she blamed part of that on the pain killers. The best medicine she could have, though, was her daughter, who sat on the chair beside her, rambling on about the events of the past week.

"And then we were eating breakfast, and this boy was dying and House saved him. He cut a hole right in his throat just like this" she said, making a motion at her neck "And stuck something in there so he could breathe again."

Cuddy looked quizzically at her mother, who seemingly wished she was anywhere but here at the moment. Arlene could see the look on Lisa's face, and knew she had to interrupt.

"Actually, Lisa, it's true, he did save that boy's life. If he had just walked away, he would be here right now. But he drew too much attention to himself. Why did he choose NOW to be selfless for once in his life"

Before Cuddy could form any response, a nurse came in with a wheelchair, and some papers under her arm.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Foreman wanted us to do an MRI."

"Is something wrong?" Arlene asked

"Just a precaution." She answered, wheeling the chair to Cuddy's bedside. "And then it looks like we will be moving you out of the ICU."

[*******]

The courtroom was empty, except for House's attorney, Judge Foster, the prosecutor, and a court reporter. House sat at the table, his eyes looking downward as the attorneys each outlined their cases. He had hoped that somehow, he would get a chance to see or talk to Cuddy before he was sent back to prison. But here he was, back in New Jersey while she was miles away in a Pennsylvania hospital. More than likely, she would be transferred to a place closer to her home for rehabilitation, only increasing the distance between them. He was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard the hostile tone of the State's attorney.

"With all due respect, Judge, you're taking into account facts that are not in evidence."

"I don't see it that way, Mr. Jackson. I've read the files, there is no proof here of vandalism, or that Dr. House here was the one who switched the medical records. That could have been a clerical error. I am taking those out of the equation when imposing sentence."

"You can't do that!"

"Are you trying for a contempt charge?" the Judge said, leaning forward.

The attorney shook his head, still not completely hiding his disgust with the situation.

"Dr. House, please stand."

House slowly stood up, leaning heavily on his cane.

"Dr. House, even if I don't take the other charges into consideration, you still left the jurisdiction, and failed to report to your parole officer. You're going to have to suffer the consequences of those actions."

"I understand."

"I hereby rule that you will serve out the remainder of your sentence at a halfway house in Princeton, NJ. Eligible for work release, should you be able to find someone actually willing to employ you."

"But Judge!"

"Sit down, Mr. Jackson."

"Judge Foster," House's attorney interrupted. "We have one more request."

"You might be pushing your luck just a bit."

"I understand." he said apologetically, "It's just that...well, there's a patient in Philadelphia, the family feels that Dr. House is the only one who can help her. They are requesting he be allowed to come back to the hospital and treat her."

The Judge narrowed his eyes. "I have read all the facts of this case, counselor. Am I to assume that the patient you are talking about is Dr. Lisa Cuddy?"

"Yes, she's had a serious brain injury..."

"There are doctors in this hospital, right? Ones that have an actual license to practice medicine?"

"I'm sure you know that Dr. House here is...was...a brilliant diagnostician. While he can't actually treat her, the family feels that he is the best chance for survival."

"Judge!" the State's attorney shouted. "Dr. Cuddy was the victim in the original case. She had a restraining order taken out just to be sure this man would never be anywhere near her ever again. You can't allow him to just walk in that hospital and do God knows what... "

The Judge shuffled some papers, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"It says here that Dr. Cuddy terminated the restraining order over a year ago. Apparently she had changed her mind."

House's ears perked up when he heard what the judge had said. He knew that Cuddy had taken out the restraining order almost immediately after he parked his car in her lving room. He had been informed of that at his first hearing, but he never knew that she had it dissolved.

"Still," the Judge continued. "Even if I were to agree to that, it would come with some serious restrictions."

"Such as?" House's attorney asked.

"First of all, we would require 24 hour monitoring with an electronic ankle bracelet. But I can't just let him walk out of her and travel out of state, not without releasing to him someone's custody."

"If it pleases the court, I do believe we have someone that is willing to take that responsibility."

"And just who would that be?" the Judge asked, just noticing the figure that had just come through the doors.

"That would be me."

All eyes turned towards the direction of the voice. And there he was, leaned up against the courtroom doors, arms folded. It was Foreman.

"And you are?"

"I'm Eric Foreman, the neurologist in charge of Lisa Cuddy's case. "

"And you honestly feel that Dr. House is necessary on this case?"

"She's had a serious brain injury, and there's been some problems in bringing her out of the medically induced coma. With any brain injury, time is critical. Dr. House is the best diagnostician that I know, if anyone can figure it out, it would be him."

House felt his heart pounding in his chest. The last time he spoke with Foreman, everything seemed to be going fine. What had happened in the last couple of hours? Was there brain damage? Had she lapsed back into a coma?

The Judge looked through his papers again, as if considering his decision. In reality, it was obvious to everyone in the courtroom that the outcome had been determined well before it began.

"You realize that you are taking total responsibility for this man? Any crime he may commit while in your custody, you might as well have committed yourself. I suggest you take some time to think about this."

"There's no time." Foreman said, his voice relaying the urgency. "In cases like these, every minute that passes can mean further brain damage..."

House's eyes widened with fear. Further brain damage? What was he saying? He was about to jump up and demand an explanation, but thankfully the Judge spoke again before he had a chance.

"Very well. You have him for one week. After that, he reports to the half way house in Princeton."

"Judge, you can't possibly..."

"Mr. Jackson? Do you realize how many times a week that you appear in front of me, you really want to push this any further?"

The opposing attorney slammed his briefcase shut in disgust, but shook his head.

"Mr. House, we will have you fitted for an ankle bracelet immediately. Dr. Foreman, there are some papers for your to sign. Court is adjourned."

The State's attorney grabbed his briefcase angrily, briefly stopping to glare at House, before pushing his way past Foreman and out the door.

"Mr. Baldwin? Will you pass along a message for me?"

"Yes Judge?"

"Tell Judge Anderson that I said that 'we are even now'." then muttered under his breath "I'll be lucky if I'm not investigated for this."

Baldwin nodded and began to get his papers together as the court officers came over to escort House into another room. They allowed him to stop briefly in front of Foreman.

"What do you mean you can't bring her our of the coma?!" House demanded "What the hell happened?"

Foreman smirked and leaned forward to whisper into House's ear.

"Everybody lies."


	14. Chapter 14

It had taken a few hours to get everything in order, and get the ankle monitor placed on House's leg. It felt like days. During that time, he didn't have access to any form of communication. He stood on the courthouse steps, with his escort, pondering what he would do when he got into Foreman's car. His first instinct was to grab the cell phone and immediately call Cuddy. Even thought that was what he wanted to do, he thought better of it. He also wanted to look into her eyes when he finally spoke to her, to gauge what she was feeling. That, combined with the previously mentioned speech difficulties, led him to make the decision to wait. After all of this time, what was one more hour? Foreman's car pulled up to the curb, and after a mock salute to the attending officer, House slipped into the passenger seat.

Foreman could feel House's eyes staring at him, not saying a word. They had driven five miles in silence, and House had not taken his eyes off of him once in that time. He became more agitated, and gripped the wheel tighter.

"What?!" Foreman said disgustedly as they sat at a red light."Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I'm trying to figure out a puzzle."

"We'll be there in an hour or so, you can figure it all out then."

"No. At this moment, Dr. Foreman, YOU are the puzzle." he finally explained. "Why did you do all of this for me?"

"It's that Judge you should be thanking." He answered gruffly. "Not me."

"You know that's not what I mean. You basically just risked your career to get me out of this mess."

The frustration faded from Foreman's face, but he still remained silent for a moment. The car behind them leaned on the horn, announcing that the light had long turned green, and they made their way to the interstate.

"I've had time to think since you've been... 'dead', House. Maybe I feel partly responsible for everything that's happened in the past year."

"Never figured you for the martyr type."

"If I had just covered for you with the parole board, you wouldn't have had to fake your death to spend that time with Wilson. You would still be a doctor, and you wouldn't have given up _everything_."

"I did that to myself."

"It was a stupid prank." Foreman said, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "All of the crazy, ridiculous things that you did over the years, and I chose that time to take a stand? To try and teach you humility? I should have..."

"Don't." House said, cutting him off. "If there's one thing that I've finally gotten through my head, it's that I have to be accountable. For years I walked around breaking every rule, and getting away with it. Because someone always covered for me. The team, Wilson, or Cuddy..."

His voice trailed off, and there was a brief uncomfortable silence, and then finally, House broke it.

"It was all worth it." House said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Yep. Giving up my identity, losing my license...all of it." House explained "Throughout my whole relationship with Wilson, he was always the one being a true friend. He stood by me no matter what insane thing I did, no matter how much of an ass I was. He was there for me through it all - even after I killed his wife."

"House, you didn't.."

"Not polite to interrupt." House snapped "I took Wilson for granted, I abused the hell out of him really. He told me once that I was pushing the limits, just to see how much the friendship would take before he ditched me. He was right, I was a horrible friend, and never let him know what he meant to me. What better way to prove it than to give up everything I had, with no expectation of anything in return? For Wilson, it validated our friendship. And we also had one hell of a ride for 5 months until he got too sick."

When he was done speaking, House realized that it was the first time that he had vocalized any of those feelings. In part, it made him feel better, but it also made him realize just how much of an ass he had been. To everyone. The silence had become even more uncomfortable, and Foreman seemed to realize it.

"I uh, called the hospital while you were being processed." he said, in an attempt to change the subject. "Cuddy recognized Rachel, and seems to comprehend things, but she's still having trouble responding."

"Guess that means she can't scream at me to get out'"

"For what it's worth," Foreman said, glancing over at House, "I don't think that's going to happen."

They spent the remainder of the drive in silence, with both lost in their thoughts. House tried to plan out what he would say, how he would plead his case, and what Cuddy's response would be. As they pulled up in front of the hospital, he felt his chest tightenting, and he was sure that his heart was about to explode right out of his chest.

The ride up the elevator was the longest of his life. When they reached the correct floor, House was pushing his way through the doors before they were even fully open. He moved quickly down the hall, so much adrenaline running through him that he barely needed the cane. Foreman stopped at the nurse's station, and yelled ahead for House to wait, but he didn't even hear him.

House pushed past a nurse who was leaving Cuddy's room, almost knocking her over in the process. She had an armload of sheets in her hand, and they landed on the floor. He stopped short when he saw the bed not only empty, but completely made up. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to figure it all out. In a panic, he turned back towards the nurse's station where Foreman was still standing.

"House, they moved her out of ICU. I just got her new room number."

"I thought..."

"I know what you thought." he said, leading the way. "You need to stop expecting the worst."

"Old habits."

After turning down a few different hallways, they came to a stop outside of a room, and House realized that they must have reached the destination. He hesitated, taking a step back as if he was afraid of what was inside.

"This is Cuddy's room." he said, pointing "I'll be down the hall."

House nodded, grateful for the privacy that Foreman was allowing him. He had already bared his soul once in front of him today, and that was enough. He inhaled deeply, as if it would give him courage, and entered the room.

She was lying in the bed, her eyes closed. He was almost glad for it, he got the chance to look her over and assess her condition. There was no ventilator, the gash on her forehead appeared to be healing nicely, and her color had returned. He sat down in the chair beside the bed, silently watching her as she slept. It wouldn't be right to wake her up, but he had waited so long for this that he couldn't help himself. He reached over and touched her hand lightly, not wanting to startle her. She shifted position in the bed slightly, but didn't awaken.

"Cuddy, can you hear me?"

No response. He sighed heavily.

"I know I'm probably the last person you want to see, but I really need to talk to you."

Her eyes opened slowly, and she blinked them a few times to clear the haze. The drugs were still prevalent in her system, but she recognized that voice, the face, and the piercing blue eyes staring back at her.

"Hi." he said sheepishly

She studied his face, immediately noticing the difference in him. He looked a little older and thinner, but mostly she noticed the look in his eyes. Gone was the defiance and cockiness that she was so used to seeing there, replaced by nervousness and almost a look of defeat. She frowned, saddened and confused at what she was seeing in front of her.

"You want me to leave." he said, noticing the frown. "I don't blame you. After everything I've done, I have no right to be here."

Having said that, he still couldn't bring himself to stand and leave. There were things that needed to be said, things that she had to know. He put his head down, tapping his cane nervously. He flinched when he felt her hand on his arm. He looked up to see her smiling at him, ever so slightly.

"House." she said quietly. "Stay."


	15. Chapter 15

He swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath. The anger that he had expected to hear in her voice was not there. There was, however, a look of veiled sadness. He had put that there, the sadness in her eyes, and he knew it. Searching desperately for words, he was about to speak when he felt her hand lightly brushing over the stubble on his cheek.

"You okay?" she finally managed.

"I'm fine," he responded, covering her hand with his, keeping it against his face. "I don't want to talk about me."

Finally, she broke the contact, but still stared into his eyes.

"Sorry."

He was incredulous.

"You're sorry? What do have to be sorry about? It's me who should be..."

"W-Wilson."

House lowered his head again, nodding.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Me too."

He was frustrated with himself. How many times in the past few days had he run this speech through his head, yet now, when given the opportunity, it was as if he lost his ability to speak. As much as he wanted to pour his heart out, there was still that chance that he wasn't going to like the end result. As long as he said nothing, as long as they didn't discuss it, he could tell himself in his heart that there was a chance. A chance at forgiveness, and friendship. Angry with himself for being a coward, he took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Cuddy, I have some things to say." he said, taking hold of her hand. "I need you to know, that I'm sincerely sorry for what I did. It's not an excuse, but I was out of my mind. I was so angry, but not at you, really. My anger was at myself, for letting you in, for even trying the relationship in the first place. I knew better, and I should have gone with my brain and not my heart." He paused, realizing that it probably sounded as if he was justifying. "I guess truth be told, part of me was mad at you for what I saw as bailing so easily, for wanting me to change when you said you didn't...but how it ended, that was all on me, it was my fault. What I did was..."

His voice trailed off as he hesitated in finishing the sentence.

"Horrible." she whispered.

He winced.

"Actually, I was going to say unforgiveable."

He watched as she frowned, just a little, as if tossing her thoughts over in her mind. More than anything he wanted to hear her say that wasn't the case, that she did forgive him. There was no chance for them to be together anymore, he felt that in his heart. But now, when he had reached a point where he could finally accept only her friendship, he wasn't sure that she would offer it. He needed to have her in his life in some way, in any way.

Just as she looked as if she was going to attempt an answer, a trio of familiar figures appeared in the doorway.

"House!" Rachel let go of Arlene's hand. "House is back!"

She ran over and threw herself into his arms, knocking his cane to the floor. Her arms were just about squeezing the life out of him, but he didn't mind. Instead he hugged her back, smiling without even realizing it.

"Hey kid."

"I knew you would come back!"

"I swear, you must have nine lives." Arlene quipped. "I can't wait to hear how you got yourself out of this one."

"It's a long story, but I had a little help." he glanced up at Foreman "Ok a lot of help."

"Did we interrupt something?" Arlene asked, having noticed the tension in the room when they came to the door. "We can leave and come back."

"No, it's all right." House lied.

He placed Rachel on his good leg, and leaned over to pick up his cane. The little girl reached up, rubbing his face and frowning, as if indicating that he needed a shave even more than usual. House mockingly scowled at her and she giggled.

"You_ do_ look rough." Arlene said, as if agreeing with Rachel's assesment. Then she turned her attention towards her daughter. "How are you feeling, Lisa? Anything I can get for you?"

Cuddy didn't respond, she was too busy watching the interaction between House and her daughter. She was amazed at how comfortable they seemed with each other, even after all this time. After everything that House had done, she never thought she would ever see him like this, let alone that he would ever even be allowed near her little girl again. Arlene seemed to be reading her mind.

"You know, Lisa, I really felt that I was doing the right thing by having House take care of Rachel. I knew in my heart that he wouldn't hurt her, and I was so scared of losing you. I reallly thought he was the only one that could save you."

Cuddy tried to respond, but couldn't manage the words she was searching for. Instead she just nodded, as if saying it was ok.

"How long do you think she'll have to be here?" Arlene asked.

"If all goes well, we should be able to transfer her in a few days. She's going to need some physical therapy, and some speech therapy as well, obviously."

"If memory serves, Princeton Plainsboro has a wonderful physical therapy department. I remember when I had my hip surgery..."

"Let's not talk about that right now." Foreman cautioned. "One step at a time."

House nudged Rachel off of his lap, struggling to his feet. He picked her up and set her on the bed next to her mother.

"House! Don't go." the little girl begged.

"I won't be gone long."

"You're leaving?" Arlene asked, frowning. "I would think that you two have a lot of catching up to do."

"Look, I just need to get cleaned up, a change of clothes.." then his eyes widened as reality hit him. "Oh Hell, I don't even have a place to stay. And I'm pretty sure they kicked me out of the family housing unit."

"I made you a reservation at the Hilton down the street." Foreman offered. "And I had your things from the other room sent over there."

House gave him a side eyed look.

"What's this, you're trusting me not to run off...leaving you holding the stick?"

"As long as you're wearing that thing." he said, pointing at the ankle monitor. "Look, I know you're not going to run, House. Just go get cleaned up. You look like hell."

House nodded, took a step towards the door, then stopped and looked back at Cuddy. He wanted to hear what she was about to say. He had waited so long for this moment, but this wasn't the time. Not with an audience, and especially not with Rachel in the room. For a moment, he thought of kissing her goodbye, but decided against it.

"Ok. I'll go make myself presentable, and then I'll be back. Uh, that is, if you want me to come back."

Cuddy was still staring blankly towards the chair where House had been seated. She never even turned her head to make eye contact with him, and everyone in the room could sense the awkward silence. He felt as his whole heart and life depended on what she was about to say, yet she was saying nothing. Was this her way of making it very clear that she was done with him? Arlene looked at him sympathetically, something which made him even more uncomfortable.

"Cuddy?" he said questioningly, still getting no response.

"Lisa, House is leaving. Aren't you even going to say goodbye"

"I think she just did." He said, lowering his head and turning towards the door.


	16. Chapter 16

House was frozen at the door, unable to leave the room. This reaction shouldn't have surprised him. Frankly, this was what he had expected all along, but after her initial reaction to seeing him, he had gotten his hopes up. Again.

"Mommy, House is leaving you have to say goodbye!"

Still, Cuddy didn't say a word.

"Mommy!" Rachel said louder, shaking her mother to get her attention.

"Rachel, honey, don't do that. Your mother still isn't feeling well."

"Why won't she answer me?"

House turned back to look towards Cuddy, watching the reaction, or rather lack of it, to Rachel's actions. Immediately he could sense it. Cuddy would never blatantly ignore Rachel like that, it just wasn't right. It was to clear to everyone in the room that he wasn't merely looking at her, he was studying her. She was completely still, except for her right hand, which appeared to be fumbling with the blanket in a repetetive way. Suddenly, that familiar look crossed his face, and Foreman knew instantly that he had just figured out the puzzle. House limped quickly back towards the bed, lifting Rachel off the bed with one arm, and taking her place. After having his suspicions confirmed, he gently brushed some hair out of her eyes and laid a hand on her back.

"House, wait. If she doesn't want to talk to you right now, maybe you should leave." Arlene started to say. "When she's feeling better, I can..."

He ignored her protests and remained in his position.

"She's not making any kind of statement here, Arlene. She was having a seizure."

"Seizure?" Arlene said doubtfully. "I know what a seizure looks like and this isn't it. She's not twitching or moving at all."

"He's right." Foreman agreed, irritated that he hadn't noticed it himself. "There are different types of seizures. Sometimes the patient doesn't really lose consciousness, and just appears to be staring into space."

House leaned down closer to her, staring into her eyes and waiting for that familiar look of recognition. It was only a matter of seconds, but it felt like a lifetime before he saw the life reappear in her eyes. Startled and confused, Cuddy looked quickly around the room, her gaze finally setting on House.

"House?" it was more of a question than anything else.

"It's all right. You had a seizure, but it's passed now." he smiled. "You had me worried there for a minute."

"What does this mean?" Arlene questioned.

"It's not uncommon for patients to experience a seizure after a brain trauma. We'll get an EEG and try to find out what we're dealing with here. Sometimes it's a single incident, and sometimes...well, we will just have to wait and see."

"Aren't you going to give her anything for it?"

"No. It's over now." House answered "If we give her meds to prevent another, we'll never know if it's a one time thing." he turned his attention back to Cuddy. "You okay?"

She nodded weakly in response and rested head back on the pillow.

"I'll go get the test scheduled." Foreman said, making some notations on the chart.

And for just that moment, House felt that the hands of time had been turned backward. He was once again making medical decisions, Foreman was deferring to him, and his head was back in the game. But there was more on the line in here than in any case in all of his years as a diagnositician.

"I can stay with her for awhile. Weren't you going to go get cleaned up?" Arlene asked, breaking his train of thought.

"Oh..." he hesitated and then started to get up off the bed. "Yeah, I guess I should."

Cuddy reached up and grabbed his hand, and despite having no strength to speak of, she made it very clear that she didn't want him to leave. Just a simple touch of her hand, a slight entwining of their fingers, made his whole body feel a warmth that he couldn't explain. It was something that he had not felt in so long, it almost made him weak. He could see the glistening of her eyes, and he knew that she was scared, and she needed him here. She _needed_ him. The last time she had been this vulnerable, he had let her down. There wasn't anything that was going to get him to leave this room now.

"Actually, I think I would like to stay here for the EEG and monitor her condition. Why don't you take Rachel to get a bite to eat and come back in a while?"

"House, you look like exhausted."

"I'm not leaving." he said in a stern voice. "If it makes you feel better, bring me back a reuben or something."

Arlene nodded and reached for Rachels hand. The little girl avoided her and walked over, giving both House and her mother a hug. Cuddy tried to give her a smile of reassurance, and it seemed to work, as she returned to her grandmother's side and began to exit the room.

And then they were alone. Oh how he wished that she would initiate a conversation. But he knew that even if she had something that she wanted to say, her speech issues made it nearly impossible for her. He glanced nervously around the room, and when his eyes finally met hers again, he realized that no words were necessary. Just being here with her was enough for now.

"Everything's going to be all right." he reassured her. "You'll be out of here in no time."

"I...know."

"Then what is it? What's bothering you? Is it the speech thing? Because..."

"No."

He shook his head just a bit, and gave her a look as if to say he was out of ideas. Cuddy sighed, and shifted a little in the bed. Oh how she wished that her mind was clear. The problem was, the confusion in her mind wasn't caused by the drugs in her system, or the inury to her brain. She was just torn. She had spent a year of her life full of anger directed at him, only to find it vanish when she thought he was dead. Still, his being alive didn't change the things that had happened, the things he had done. She could see by the look in his eyes that he was tormented by her silence.

"Don't know. What to do."

"About what?" he asked, even though he knew.

"You."


	17. Chapter 17

Sorry for the delay in posting. Sometimes real life gets in the way and causes a little writer's block. Hope to be back on schedule soon.

He felt a lump in his throat, and he swallowed hard. This is where the old House would make a joke about finally having her in a position where she couldn't bitch at him, couldn't fight back. He resisted the urge to break the tension with a joke.

"Look," he said, still holding her hand. "You've been through a trauma, you're loaded with meds, and to top it off, you just suffered a seizure. Maybe now isn't the time to talk about this."

"But.."

"Cuddy, I'm not trying to buy time here, I'm not evading. The fact is, how you feel now, or what you think you feel, it may not be what you think you feel after your mind is clear. I've waited what seems like forever to talk to you, but I want to do this right. You're not in any condition to make any life altering decisions."

She was hesitant at first, but in her heart, she knew he was right. She was emotional right now, she had just admitted how confused she was. And to top it all off, carrying on a conversation was almost impossible.

"Ok."

"Ok." he agreed.

He leaned back in his chair for a moment, seemingly relieved. But there was a silence that followed that he wasn't prepared for. Maybe she wasn't in any condition to talk right now but he had plenty that he needed to say, to explain. He stood and started pacing.

"Look, since I haven't just suffered a seizure and I'm completely drug free, I think that entitles me to do some talking."

"House..."

"No, no, nothing emotional. Just the boring details of my life for the past year or so." he stopped pacing and stood at the foot of her bed. "Some of it you already know. Like the whole faking my own death thing. But in the last week or so, I've had to drag myself out of a bottle, been manipulated by your mother, had my heart stolen by your little girl, and been hauled off to jail."

"Jail?"

"Ah. You want to focus on that part." he returned to his seat by her side. "I didn't figure you would remember. It turns out that the police frown on parolees crossing state lines, faking their own death, stuff like that. Who knew?"

He looked into her eyes, trying to gauge what she was thinking.

"Well anyway, showing up here, cane and all, this close to New Jersey, it probably wasn't the smartest move for someone trying to fly under the radar. Then the incident with the kid in the restaraunt was the clincher, I think. Damn doctor here turned me in. But it ended up working out well in some strange way."

Her face formed a frown. "H-How?"

"Too much to go into right now. But let's just say I found a rather friendly judge. I have to finish out my six months in a halfway house in New Jersey. Foreman created a smokescreen of sorts, that allows me to stay here with you for a few days. Barring any major setbacks, you'll be out of here soon and spend some months doing rehab, regaining your strength." He paused, looking down for a split second and then allowing his eyes to meet hers again. "Presumably in Pittsburgh."

Cuddy's mouth dropped open, and House could see a reaction in her eyes before she looked away.

"Look," he continued, "Let's focus on the here and now. Starting tomorrow, we're going to get you up and around. You've been lying there on that ginormous ass of yours for far too long."

A small smile started to cross her lips and then quickly faded. It almost seemed as if no time had passed between them, and it would be so easy to fall into old patterns. But the tension was still there, the emotion. She knew what he wanted to hear - what he needed to hear, but she just wasn't ready to deal with that yet. She was almost relieved when the orderly arrived to take her for the test.

House fumbled nervously with his cane as he watched them transfer her over to a gurney. In an effort to reassure her, he reached over and squeezed her hand, offering up a hint of a smile.

"As long as you're going to be otherwise occupied for awhile, I think I'll go and get that shower now."

Cuddy nodded in agreement, letting go of his hand as they wheeled her out of the room.

House soon found himself sitting on edge of the bed in the room that Foreman had arranged for him. It was just starting to hit him, how exhausted he really was. It would be so easy to lie down and let sleep overtake him. He shook it off, realizing that in a few days, there would be plenty of time for sleep, and no time with Cuddy. Glancing around the room, he noticed his suitcase was sitting in the corner. He stared at it suspiciously, remembering its contents, and wondering...what were the odds of it being intact. Finally he got to his feet, walking over and unsnapping the latch. As he rifled through the clothes, he swore under his breath, not even hearing Foreman walk into the room.

"It's not there." Foreman said simply.

"Shocker."

"You really shouldn't carry that much cash around, you know. It's just asking for trouble."

"Apparently." he answered, still not amused.

Foreman reached in his pocket, pulling out a small stack of bills, and shoving it in House's direction. House quickly flipped through it.

"Feels a little light."

"I didn't steal your money, House. It's in an account in my name, for now. It will be waiting for you just as soon as someone declares you legally alive."

House ran it over in his mind. Had he walked into the half way house carrying that kind of cash, no doubt it would have been confiscated, or stolen.

"Thanks." he said, shoving the money in his pocket "Tell me again, why you're doing all this?"

"Damned if I know."

House showered quickly and rushed back to Cuddy's room. He knew that she would already be back from her tests, and he didn't like the idea of her returning to an empty room. As he limped through the doorway, he glanced around, seeing that was lying in the bed, eyes closed. Good, he though. Rest was the best thing for her right now.

Walking around the bed, he noticed a small bag on the night stand. He reached down and pulled off the yellow post it note with his name scrawled on it. Obviously it was from Rachel. He peeked inside the bag, then reaching in and pulling out the sandwich. He hadn't even realized just how hungry he was until he smelled the reuben. Throwing himself in the chair, he wolfed it down, faster than he should have.

As he leaned over to toss the bag in the garbage, he noticed that Cuddy's eyes were open and she was watching him, half smiling.

"Sorry if I woke you."

"It's o-okay."

"How do you feel?"

"I...have to pee." she struggled to say.

He was surprised that they had taken her off the catheter so soon, but he knew that it was standard procedure to try and get her up and around as soon as possible.

"Oh," House stood up. "I'll get the nurse."

"No!"

He turned around to see her reaching her hand up, as if asking for him to help her up.

"You really think that's a good idea? The cripple leading the cripple?"

She didn't verbally respond, but she made an attempt to get up on her own, knowing full well he would give in. He rolled his eyes and he made his way to the side of the bed. He made a move to put his arm around her, uncharacteristically nervous about the contact. She draped her arm across his shoulder, and immediately he caught his breath. It had been so long since he had felt her like this, close to him, needing him. He could feel the warmth and electricity of it throughout his entire body. A look into her eyes told him that she was experiencing the same feelings, and for some reason, that put him at ease. He struggled to get her to her feet, but she was almost dead weight, and he wasn't sure that he had the strength.

"What are you doing?" boomed a rather large nurse from the doorway. "You should have hit the call button, that's what we're here for."

"Sorry." House said sheepishly. He was almost grateful for the nurse's interruption, not really wanting to chance walking with Cuddy.

"You put her back in that bed until I get a walker in here."

The nurse disappeared briefly, and House sat down on the bed next to Cuddy, still keeping the contact.

"You trying to get me thrown out of here?" he cracked

"S..sorry."

They sat there in silence, until the nurse returned, leading Cuddy into the restroom, and then back to the bed. He helped to adjust her pillows and covered her up, returning to his seat in the chair. Neither one of them wanted to discuss the feelings that the physical contact had brought back, so they sat in silence, until exhaustion took over and they both fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Two days passed, and they had settled into somewhat of a routine. House would help her walk small distances, sit with her when she slept, and spent a lot of time reading the information on her chart. Cuddy had not suffered any more seizures, and the EKG showed nothing abnormal. She was recovering remarkably well, and although the speech issue was still very much present, she was able to form short sentences. Most of the physical pain was from the cracked ribs that she suffered, and that paled in comparison to dealing with the loss of her sister.

She glanced over at House, who was sitting in the chair, with Rachel happily perched on his lap. Cuddy watched and listened, as he told her a story, with Rachel giggling as he spoke in his best pirate voice. She couldn't wrap her mind around how much he had changed. But that was the question that she needed to answer. Had he really changed? Could she really trust him enough to have him in her life again?

Soon, she was drifting off to sleep again. She tried to fight it, but, the combination of lying in bed most of the day, and the meds that she was on, made it almost impossible to stay awake. And then, it happened again - the nightmare that she used to have quite frequently right after the incident- was back. She was standing in the dining room, laughing and smiling at something that Julia had said. It was all very light hearted and innocent... And then everything went into slow motion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel run past her in a flash, pressing her hands and face against the window.

"It's Howse!" she was yelling, excitedly "Come back, Howse!"

Cuddy heard the squeal of the tires, and then saw the car coming towards them at full speed. She tried to run to Rachel, to scoop her up out of the way, but her feet felt like they were made of lead and she couldn't will them to move . And then all she heard was the glass breaking violently, and Rachel's ear shattering scream.

She awoke with a noticeable jolt, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. House looked up, stopping in midsentence and nudged Rachel off of his lap. Cuddy's face was white as a sheet, and her eyes wide with fear. He could almost see her heart pounding through her hospital gown.

"What happened? Are you all right?"

Cuddy looked over and saw Rachel standing by the foot of her bed, and she let out a heavy breath.

"Fine" she breathed out, sitting up in the bed. "A d-dream."

"More like a nightmare." House countered.

"I'm Ok.." she struggled to get the words out "Meds."

It was all so confusing for her. When she looked at House, _this_ _House_, she couldn't believe he was even the same person. The nightmare had brought it all back to the forefront for her. And she could still see the cold, unfeeling look on his face as he stood at her door, just seconds after destroying her living room, and in some ways, her life. She had decided then and there, that she would never let this man near her again. Never let him near her daughter again. And yet... here he was.

"Are you sure that's all it is?"

House was going to push the issue, but stopped short of it when he looked up and saw her doctor walking into the room, followed by Arlene and Foreman.

"Hello Dr. Cuddy, how are we feeling today?" the doctor asked as he crossed the room.

"OK." she responded hesitantly. She glanced at Foreman, wondering why he was here.

"Well I have good news for you," the doctor said, smiling "we're going to send you home."

"H-home?"

"I'll be staying with you for awhile," Arlene interjected. "To help you get along, and take care of Rachel."

"You seem to be making good progress, and there's really nothing more we can do here. I'll pass on your test results and medical information, and you can follow up with your family doctor. "

"When?"

"Well, I see no reason why you should spend another night here, provided you have someone to stay with you, and it appears that you do."

House and Cuddy exchanged a look, while the doctor scribbled on his prescription pad.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain. This should get you through until you see your regular doctor." he noticed that she didn't appear to be happy with his news, and he continued, "You really were incredibly lucky. It may not feel that way right now, but this could have been so much worse. If it's the speech issue that is bothering you, I've recommended a therapist in your area. Chances are very good that you'll completely recover, it just takes time."

"Th-thank you."

"Do you have any questions?"

Cuddy shook her head. She had a thousand questions, but not the kind that he could answer for her.

"Ok then, I'll make the arrangements, you should be out of here by the time the evening news is on. The nurse will be in awhile with your post op instructions."

He nodded in House's direction, and then quickly left the room.

"We get to go home?" Rachel asked excitedly

When Cuddy didn't answer, she turned toward House.

"We get to go home, House!"

"Yes Rachel, we're going home." Arlene said quietly, "But right now, let's run down the hall and get a candy bar out of the machine. How does that sound?"

Rachel started to protest, but then decided that she was hungry, and eagerly followed her grandmother out the door. The room was quiet then, with not one of the three saying a word for awhile. House glanced up at Foreman.

"I take it that you're here to be my taxi service back to Jersey?"

"Yeah," Foreman nodded. "I've been kept informed of every detail of the case. It was part of the deal. I asked them to let me know when they were ready to discharge her."

He saw the hesitation in House's eyes.

"We don't have a choice, House."

"I know, I know." he responded. "Can you give us a minute?"

"I'll be at the hotel room." he started walking towards the door, then stopped, his back still to them. "You'll be there...right?"

"You have my word."

Foreman disappeared into the hallway, and House slowly moved closer to Cuddy's bed. She looked at him, trying to read exactly what he was feeling.

"You know I can't go with you." his voice was almost a whisper.

"I know."

He started pacing slowly, looking at the floor and rubbing a hand over his face as tried to come up with the words. This was the last time he was going to see her for...possibly ever. This might be the last chance he had to tell her exactly what and how he felt.

"You know, after you had me arrested, I tried to hold on to my anger. I tried to blame you, even though I know it was mostly my fault. I never wanted you to be in my life again, never wanted to see you, ever. At least that's what I told myself, over and over. But when Foreman called, and told me you had been in an accident..."

"House..." she tried to cut him off, but he continued.

"I had compartmentalized all of feelings for you, over twenty years of feelings. They were locked away in my brain, in a safe place where you...they...couldn't hurt me anymore. When Foreman called, and said you might not make it, those walls, they came crashing down. I know what I did was horrible, and I hate myself for it. I understand we can't be together again, not in the way that we were, but I need you in my life, Cuddy. In some way,_ any way_, I just need to know that you'll still be there. "

An hour ago, she would have given him the guarantee that he seemed so desperate for. But the nightmare was so fresh in her mind, and had brought back so many bad memories, that she just didn't know what to say. His eyes begged her for a response, but she was silent for what seemed like an eternity.

"I...I don't...know."

Her voice was almost monotone, with no emotion or feeling. For just a split second, she saw the disappointment flash in his eyes, and then it was gone.

House swallowed hard, taking a slow deep breath. He had bared his soul to her, put it all out there, and yet nothing had changed. After everything that had happened in past few days, he had expected a a different response. Or at least hoped for one. There was no sense in pushing her any further. He turned and started to gather the few things that he had brought with him to the hospital, and shoved them into a bag. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a set of keys and set them on the stand next to her bed.

"Julia's car." he explained, "Your mother can make arrangements to get it back to Pittsburgh."

The tone in his voice had turned ice cold, and she knew he was going into self protection mode. As confused as she was, she couldn't stand to have him leave this way. After everything he had done for her, and for Rachel during all of this, he deserved better. If there was any chance that this was the last time she would see him, there was something she needed him to know, something she just had to tell him.

"House..."

"Foreman is waiting, I better get going." he said, making a move to leave.

She reached out, grabbing his arm to get him to stop. Instinctively, he started to pull away, but he just couldn't. He froze.

"W..wait!"

"What?!" he said curtly, still looking straight past her.

"I...I forgive you."


	19. Chapter 19

_Thanks for all of the reviews, guys. Glad you are still hanging around and reading. And of course, once again, I'm not connected to House, Fox, David Shore, you name it. It's my hope that someday we will get a House TV movie to tie up loose ends in a good way. Until then, this site keeps me going._

* * *

Cuddy could see the look in House's eyes soften, and his muscles seemed to relax. Now, feeling sure that he wasn't going to pull away, she loosened her grip and let her fingers trace down his arm to take hold of his hand. She had to try and make him understand what she was feeling. Even if she wasn't exactly sure herself.

"You don't have to say..."

"I...m-mean it"

He couldn't count how many times he had wished to hear those words, and the relief that he'd thought it would bring him. But was she being honest, had she actually forgiven him? Or was she just trying to relieve him of guilt, knowing that she would never see him again? Just seconds ago, he had asked that she allow him to remain in her life, in any way, and she wouldn't even give him that assurance. He couldn't help but feel that it was a desperate act to tell him something, anything, that she thought he needed to hear.

He leaned slowly in to give her one last embrace, being careful not to hold her too tight. To his surprise, not only didn't she flinch, she almost seemed to welcome it. It felt so good to be touched by her, to feel her touching him. He breathed in deeply, taking in her scent, never wanting to forget what it was like. He pressed his lips to her cheek, and carefully considered the words that he was about to say. He gently brushed her hair out of the way, and whispered into her ear.

"I will _always_ love you, Cuddy."

It was barely above a whisper, but the emotion conveyed in his voice almost made her shiver.

As he pulled back from the embrace, he caught just a glimpse of her face. The look in her eyes and the way her mouth hung open just slightly told him that the declaration had caught her completely off guard. He didn't want to say anymore, and he didn't want to wait for a response.

"Foreman is waiting for me." he explained, moving quickly towards the door. "Gotta go."

She snapped out of her trance quickly when she realized that he was leaving, he was really leaving.

" W-wait..."

But he was already gone. Once in the hall he leaned back against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling and closing his eyes. He knew he was being a coward, not letting her respond, but this time it was important that he had the last word. This way, it left him some room for hope, or at the very least, he delayed the inevitable.

A sudden cramp in his leg almost brought him to his knees. The week had been such an emotional roller coaster ride for him, that he had almost forgotten about the pain. He reached down and tried to massage it, but quickly regained his composure when he saw that Arlene and Rachel were heading in his direction.

Seeing House, the little girl eagerly ran to him, holding her chocolate bar out to him, as if offering it up.

"I got a candy bar, House. You want some?"

"No." he answered quietly.

"No thank you, you mean!" she corrected.

"Right...no thank you." he paused, then looked over at Arlene "I want to talk to Rachel a minute before I go."

"Do you have to leave now?" Arlene asked "Can't you stay a few more hours?"

"A few more hours won't make a difference. Besides, you heard the doctor. She'll probably be on her way home before I even get back to Jersey."

"Where you going, House?"

The sad look on her face was almost too much for him to bear. He led her down the hall, taking a seat on a bench near the nurse's station. He covered the handle of his cane with both hands, tapping it nervously.

"Rach, I don't want to leave. But I have some things that I have to do."

"Like what?"

"Grown up things." he answered, hating himself for the cop out.

"I don't want you to go, House. Mommy needs you to take care of her."

"Mommy's going to be fine now. You might have to help her a little, but she is going to be okay."

"But..I'll miss you! You can't go away again!"

Her lip was starting to tremble, and he didnt think he could take it if she started crying.

"All right, listen," he glanced at Arlene and back. "Grandma over there has my phone number. If you need to talk to me, you can have her call me. We can still talk, but it will have to be our secret. How's that?"

There was a slight pause while she appeared to be thinking it over.

"Ok. But I still don't want you to go."

"I know. I'll see you again someday, I just don't know when."

House didn't know how had let this little girl get back into his heart again so quickly. It just wasn't like him. And she had been through so much over the past week or so, he hoped that none of it would have any lasting effects. He began to stand to leave, but Rachel closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He couldn't help but return the embrace, and then got to his feet, holding her by the hand, and taking her back to where Arlene was standing.

"I wish there was something I could do to help. You wouldn't have been caught if I hadn't tricked you into coming here."

Her sincerity surprised him. In reality, he was heading down a dark road, sitting in that apartment, and she may have saved him from it. And he was grateful for the opportunity to see Cuddy again, even if it didn't go the way he was hoping.

"No regrets. At least not for anything this time around. Look, can you keep me updated on her recovery? Even if it's just a text or something to let me know how she is?"

"Of course, but I'm sure that Lisa will call you, once she gets this speech thing under control."

"Doubt it."

"Don't you love her?"

"Do you really have to ask me that?" he snapped.

"Then what's the problem? So you have to finish out your time, big deal. Six months isn't the end of the world."

"That ship has sailed." he said, matter of factly. He turned towards Rachel. "See ya kid. Remember our secret"

Rachel nodded, her face still heartbreakingly sad, and House started limping down the hallway towards the elevator.

"So that's it...you're just going to give up?" Arlene called after him throwing her arms in the air. "After all this?"

House stopped, just for a second, glancing back at had a strange look on his face, almost as if he had just come to some sort of realization.

"It wasn't me who gave up." he said calmly. "Not then, and not now."

An hour later, he found himself climbing into the passenger seat of Foreman's car, not really sure what was waiting for him. He wondered just how restrictive the half way house would be. He hadn't even considered that when he told Rachel that she could call him anytime. What if he wasn't allowed to keep his cell phone? How would he keep up on Cuddy's condition? He was startled from his thoughts when Foreman dropped a huge box of files into his lap, and closing the door.

"What the hell..."

"Need you to pick a case." Foreman said, as he got behind the wheel.

House looked at him incredulously. "A What? In case you have forgotten, I'm not a doctor anymore. I'm not even alive, for that matter. Not yet."

"You can still consult. Now look in there and find a file you like, a case that only you can solve."

"I'm still not following you."

"Were you not listening when the Judge sentenced you? You're eligible for work release, if you can find someone crazy enough to hire you. But I have to be able to make a convincing argument that only the great Dr. House can save...whatever person you choose to save."

House smirked at him.

"There must be a hundred cases in here."

"They kept coming in, long after your death. There's two more boxes in my office, all sent to the attention of Dr. Gregory House."

"Did they expect me to solve them from the grave? Even I'm not _tha_t good."

"Just give them a look. You have until we get back to Jersey."

"Appreciate the thought, but there is no way you will be able to convince the board to even let me set foot in that hospital again, let alone work there. Even Cuddy wouldn't have been able to pull off_ that_ miracle."

"Things have changed since you"died", House. We didn't have the world famous diagnostician on staff anymore. Funding has dropped off dramatically, as have the donations. In six months, if there isn't a major turn around, PPTH might be closing it's doors."

"Aren't you being just a little dramatic?"

"Find a case, House. Or don't. But you'll be spending 24 hours a day in that half way house because nobody else is going to hire you."

"Well when you put it that way..." he started leafing through the documents, then glanced up at Foreman. "What about my team?"

Foreman rolled his eyes.

"Did you think they just sat around waiting for you to return from the dead? Taub, Thirteeen, even Park. They have all moved on, although Chase still works at PPTH. And I never told him that you were alive."

House was suspiciously quiet, causing Foreman to glance over. He saw the familiar look on House's face and knew that he was concocting some sort of plan.

"You're not going to get them to come back, House."

"We'll see." he said in a cocky voice. "Now shut up so I can go through these files."


	20. Chapter 20

They drove mostly in silence, as House perused through the files, hoping to find something that would interest him. Most of them came with personal letters, begging him to take their case. He could tell by the postmarks on some of the envelopes that it was too late, and he tossed those aside.

"Find anything?" Foreman asked, as brought the car to a stop.

"Not really."

"House, there must be a hundred files there. You can't find one that you're willing to take on?"

"Too late for most of them."

"Well we're here. Take a look at this place, is this where you want to spent 24 hours out of every day? Nobody else is going to hire you, you know."

House glanced up at the building in front of them. He didn't know why, but he had expected it to be some sterile, brick and mortar, "jail-like" building. He was was surprised to find it to be just an oversized house, with what looked to be about 6 or 8 bedrooms. Two men were seated a table on the porch, eating lunch in silence. The long greasy hair, the tattoos...bars or no bars, this reminded him way too much of prison. He reached down between the seats, retrieving a file that he had singled out right away, having looked through the others just to avoid conversation.

"This one." he said, handing it to Foreman. "Get me this kid. I'll try and perform my normal miracles, but I may be just a little out of practice..."

Foreman glanced at the name on the file, and briefly looked over the cover page.

"Ok. But remember, you're only going to be a consultant. And only if I can pull this off."

"I have faith in you, Dr. Foreman."

House opened the car door, and slung his back pack over his shoulder. He noticed that Foreman was following him, with paperwork in hand.

"I think I can find the way from here."

"No chance. I'm putting my neck on the line for you here, I want to make sure all of the i's are dotted and the t's crossed."

It took almost two full days before Foreman could get the work release approved During that time, House got himself accustomed to his new surroundings. He shared a 10 x 12 bedroom with one of the "hoodlums" he had seen on the front porch. House soon found out that his appearance was deceiving. He seemed very quiet and reserved, and didnt' want any part of House's quick witted conversations. He and his girlfriend had gotten drunk, stolen a motorcyle, taken it for a joyride, and ended up seriously injuring two pedestrians crossing the street.

"I got two months to go." he had told him the first night. "I'm not doing anything to mess this up."

House had beein lying in bed that first night, wondering about Cuddy, about how she was, and if he would hear from her at all. He had gotten one text from Arlene. It said simply "We are home. Keep you posted."

And now, he was sitting on the porch, tapping his cane, waiting for the arrival of the cab. Somehow, Foreman had managed to pull of yet another miracle, and gotten the ok for the work release to PPTH. He had gone over it an over it in his head, over the past two days, and still couldn't figure out why Foreman was bending over backwards to help him. Whatever the reason, he was sure that it would show itself soon enough.

He watched the taxi drive away, and he stood, frozen, outside of the doors of Princeton Plainsboro Hospital. His heart rate increased, and he gripped his cane tightly as he tried to force his legs to move. This was where he had seen his highest of highs...several brief months of happiness. But it was also where he had hit rock bottom, more than once. It made him wonder if this was the right move. Throwing himself back into the life that had almost destroyed him suddenely didn't seem like a good idea. Too much had happened here, and if he walked through that door, it might finally destroy him.

"Feels strange, doesn't it?"

Foreman's voice startled House,and seemed to snap him out of his funk. He moved forward, and through the open door that Foreman was holding. Once back inside, he tried not to look around, knowing that there were many eyes on him.

"Yeah." he mumbled. "Where's my office?"

"Well," Foreman said, shifting his feet." I was kind of thinking you could use Wilson's office. Nobody's touched it since...well since he left here."

"What? Why not?"

"I guess it never came up. We really didn't need the space here, the hospital has been making a lot of cuts."

House nodded and headed towards the elevator.

"Dr. Foreman!" A nurse hollered as he was walking with House. "You have a phone call."

"Take a message."

"They said it was an emergency..."

He sighed disgustedly, glancing momentarily between the nurse and House. It was against his better judgement to let him out of his sight.

"I'm a big boy, Eric, I'll be fine. " House said mockingly, "I think I remember the way."

House stood in front of Wilson's office, just staring at the name on the door. He felt a chill as he ran his fingers over the letters. It was almost as if he could feel Wilson there.  
If he believed in such things, he might have been comforted by it.

He opened the door hesitantly, peeking in as if he expected someone to be there. A flood of emotions washed over him. The movie posters on the walls, everything on the desk - it was as if Wilson had just gone out for a cup of coffee. He looked around slowly, taking it all in. It was almost too much.

He was jarred out of his thoughts by the vibrating of his cell phone. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled it out and frowned at the number. It wasn't one that he recognized, but he flipped it open and answered anyway.

"What?" he said gruffly.

At first there was no response, and he repeated his angry greeting.

"House?" a tiny voice said weakly. "Is that you?"

"Rachel?" he said anxiously, instantly recognizing the voice "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"No..just missed you, House."

"I miss you too, Rachel." he finally answered. "Does anyone know that you're calling?"

"No. I took Grandma's phone. She's helping Mommy in the shower."

"Hey Rach, how is your Mother doing?"

"She still talks funny. And she sleeps a lot. But Grandma says she's getting better."

He was relieved to hear that Cuddy was doing well, but he really wished that he could hear it from her. He had known when leaving the hospital that he might not see her again - ever- but he still held out hope.

"House...when you going to come visit?"

"I don't know."

It was a lie. He knew there was no way he was ever going to "visit"

"Mommy seems sad."

"She'll be fine. I promise."

"I think Grandma's coming. Is it ok if I call you again sometimes?"

"You can always call me."

"Love you, House."

She hung up before House could even form a response. He was still staring blankly at the phone when Foreman came through the door. He shoved the phone in his pocket, quickly regaining his composure.

"Afraid I had gone on the lam already?

"No. I just wasn't sure...I mean do you think using this office is a good idea?"

"Excuse me, but it was _your_ idea.

Foreman threw himself down in the chair across the desk from him.

"Not exactly."

House leaned forward on the desk, giving hima side eyed scowl.

"What?"

"It may have been Wilson's idea."

House was quiet for a minute, he seemed to be thinking. Suddenly he jumped up, slamming his hand on the desk as he did.

"I knew it!"

"I don't know what..."

"All this time, I've been trying to figure out why you were doing all of this. Why you were helping me. This was some promise you made to Wilson, wasn't it?"

"Not really a promise, just-"

"Call it what you want, this was Wilson's way of "taking care of me" after he was gone?" he shook his head. "Even when he's dead, he can't resist."

"All right, maybe I did talk to Wilson about you. He didn't want you to be completely alone, he thought that after he was gone, you wouldn't have anyone left."

"You think you can replace him?" House was pacing now, restrained anger in his voice. "You think you can be my new Wilson?"

"I'm not trying to be anything!" Foreman yelled back, matching his anger. "I'm not like Wilson, and I'm not going to put up with all of the garbage from you that he did. I admit, it started out as a favor to him. But there's more to it than that."

"Like what?" he scoffed. "You still afraid you're going to end up like me? Trying to save me so that maybe you can save yourself?"

"It's not that." Foreman shook his head. "Despite everything you put me through when I was on your team, once you were gone, I felt like I had lost a friend."

"A friend?"

"Ok, maybe too strong of a word."

"Definitely." he smirked.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"So, you good in this office?"

"Yeah. Now I just need a team."


End file.
